Local Government Contract Job Trends

Local Government (Local Authority, Local Council)
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Local Government in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Local Government over the 6 months leading up to 22 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 252 224
Rank change year-on-year -21 -28 +173
Contract jobs citing Local Government 450 319 465
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.89% 1.07% 1.06%
As % of the General category 1.63% 1.68% 1.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 324 216 325
10th Percentile £341 £298 £313
25th Percentile £412 £395 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £453 £450
Median % change year-on-year +11.49% +0.56% -
75th Percentile £638 £550 £550
90th Percentile £700 £650 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £415 £475
% change year-on-year +20.63% -12.74% +10.79%
Number of hourly rates quoted 53 48 62
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.21 £15.39
25th Percentile £17.57 £20.34 £16.22
Median hourly rate £23.00 £29.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.69% +16.00% +12.97%
75th Percentile £27.25 £34.48 £34.64
90th Percentile £34.89 £57.50 £42.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.01 £23.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year -4.33% +2.22% +25.00%

All General Skills
UK

Local Government falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 27,543 19,006 24,956
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.29% 63.47% 56.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,611 11,966 15,595
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £626 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £490
% change year-on-year +6.38% -4.08% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,856 919 2,030
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.46 £12.78
25th Percentile £18.27 £16.59 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.50 £28.00 £31.25
Median % change year-on-year +16.07% -10.40% +4.17%
75th Percentile £61.18 £53.85 £53.00
90th Percentile £80.63 £75.00 £67.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.00 £24.34 £30.00
% change year-on-year +31.47% -18.87% +17.19%

Local Government
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Local Government relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Local Government job vacancy trend in the UK

Local Government
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government

Local Government
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Local Government over the 6 months to 22 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Local Government in the UK

Local Government
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government

Local Government
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Local Government over the 6 months to 22 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Local Government in the UK

Local Government
Top 15 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Local Government within the UK over the 6 months to 22 June 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -23 436 £509 +13.11% 221
UK excluding London -21 239 £500 +20.63% 179
London -39 194 £525 +10.53% 62
Work from Home -12 150 £525 +16.67% 114
Midlands +30 111 £525 +14.13% 46
West Midlands +11 76 £525 +13.51% 23
North of England -77 33 £531 +25.00% 44
South East -56 32 £600 +20.00% 53
East Midlands +6 31 £500 +8.70% 23
East of England -5 28 £370 -7.44% 16
South West -49 28 £500 +25.00% 15
North West -32 18 £350 -15.15% 22
Yorkshire -60 15 £550 +41.94% 18
Scotland -6 4 £198 -50.63% 6
Wales -12 3 £425 - 6

Local Government
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 22 (4.89%) SharePoint
2 8 (1.78%) Oracle Workflow
3 5 (1.11%) CMS
4 4 (0.89%) OpenEdge
5 3 (0.67%) Drupal
5 3 (0.67%) WordPress
6 2 (0.44%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.44%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.44%) Confluence
6 2 (0.44%) govService
6 2 (0.44%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.22%) IBM HTTP Server
Applications
1 21 (4.67%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.33%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.33%) Spreadsheet
3 5 (1.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.67%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.44%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.44%) Trello
Business Applications
1 25 (5.56%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (4.00%) NEC Housing
3 17 (3.78%) Oracle Receivables
4 14 (3.11%) Oracle General Ledger
4 14 (3.11%) Oracle Payables
4 14 (3.11%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 12 (2.67%) ContrOCC
6 5 (1.11%) Dynamics CRM
6 5 (1.11%) iTrent
7 4 (0.89%) Oracle Financials
7 4 (0.89%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.22%) MIS ActiveH
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.22%) Payment Gateway
8 1 (0.22%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.22%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.22%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.22%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.22%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 40 (8.89%) Azure
2 28 (6.22%) Power Platform
3 25 (5.56%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (3.56%) AWS
4 16 (3.56%) SaaS
5 14 (3.11%) Dynamics 365
6 10 (2.22%) Entra ID
7 8 (1.78%) Azure DevOps
8 6 (1.33%) GCP
9 5 (1.11%) Microsoft Copilot
9 5 (1.11%) Power Automate
10 4 (0.89%) Azure Logic Apps
10 4 (0.89%) Azure Sentinel
10 4 (0.89%) GitHub
10 4 (0.89%) OCI
10 4 (0.89%) PowerApps
10 4 (0.89%) SuccessFactors
11 3 (0.67%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 3 (0.67%) Azure Key Vault
11 3 (0.67%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 11 (2.44%) Firewall
2 8 (1.78%) DHCP
2 8 (1.78%) DNS
2 8 (1.78%) Network Security
3 5 (1.11%) Broadband
4 4 (0.89%) VPN
4 4 (0.89%) Wi-Fi
5 3 (0.67%) LAN
5 3 (0.67%) WAN
6 2 (0.44%) Intranet
6 2 (0.44%) PSTN
7 1 (0.22%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.22%) Unified Communications
7 1 (0.22%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (5.56%) Power BI
2 23 (5.11%) Oracle Reports
3 8 (1.78%) SQL Server
4 6 (1.33%) GIS
5 4 (0.89%) BusinessObjects
5 4 (0.89%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.67%) Star Schema
7 2 (0.44%) Amazon Aurora
7 2 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.44%) Apache Hudi
7 2 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.44%) Big Data
7 2 (0.44%) Crystal Reports
7 2 (0.44%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.44%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.44%) Power Query
7 2 (0.44%) Presto
7 2 (0.44%) Spatial Data
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle ODI
Development Applications
1 6 (1.33%) JIRA
2 2 (0.44%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.22%) JUnit
3 1 (0.22%) Oracle APEX
General
1 200 (44.44%) Public Sector
2 149 (33.11%) Finance
3 120 (26.67%) Social Skills
4 43 (9.56%) Analytical Skills
5 24 (5.33%) Legal
6 22 (4.89%) Organisational Skills
7 15 (3.33%) Influencing Skills
8 14 (3.11%) Social Housing
9 10 (2.22%) Police
10 9 (2.00%) Retail
11 8 (1.78%) Fire and Rescue
11 8 (1.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.11%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.11%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.67%) Banking
13 3 (0.67%) Publishing
14 2 (0.44%) General Ledger
14 2 (0.44%) Law
14 2 (0.44%) Marketing
14 2 (0.44%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 60 (13.33%) Lead
2 56 (12.44%) Analyst
3 54 (12.00%) Senior
4 32 (7.11%) Accountant
5 30 (6.67%) Systems Accountant
6 24 (5.33%) Business Analyst
6 24 (5.33%) Developer
7 22 (4.89%) Architect
7 22 (4.89%) Consultant
7 22 (4.89%) Project Manager
8 17 (3.78%) Finance Manager
9 15 (3.33%) Support Officer
10 13 (2.89%) Senior Analyst
11 12 (2.67%) Finance Systems Manager
11 12 (2.67%) Solutions Architect
12 11 (2.44%) Applications Support
12 11 (2.44%) Senior Accountant
12 11 (2.44%) Senior Systems Accountant
12 11 (2.44%) Team Leader
12 11 (2.44%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (10.22%) Oracle Fusion
2 5 (1.11%) Middleware
2 5 (1.11%) SAP Fiori
3 4 (0.89%) CSS
3 4 (0.89%) HTML
4 3 (0.67%) REST
4 3 (0.67%) RESTful
5 2 (0.44%) JSON
5 2 (0.44%) Play Framework
5 2 (0.44%) SOAP
6 1 (0.22%) .NET
6 1 (0.22%) ARM Templates
6 1 (0.22%) FHIR
6 1 (0.22%) Node.js
6 1 (0.22%) PySpark
6 1 (0.22%) Spring
6 1 (0.22%) Spring Boot
6 1 (0.22%) Web Services
6 1 (0.22%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 33 (7.33%) Management Information System
2 21 (4.67%) Public Cloud
3 16 (3.56%) Legacy Systems
4 12 (2.67%) Data Structures
4 12 (2.67%) NHS
4 12 (2.67%) Onboarding
5 10 (2.22%) Freedom of Information
6 9 (2.00%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.78%) Housing Association
8 7 (1.56%) Driving Licence
9 5 (1.11%) Cloud Native
9 5 (1.11%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.11%) Security Posture
10 4 (0.89%) Enterprise Cloud
11 3 (0.67%) Cyber Security Posture
11 3 (0.67%) Distributed Systems
11 3 (0.67%) Hybrid Cloud
11 3 (0.67%) PKI
12 2 (0.44%) Self-Motivation
12 2 (0.44%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 18 (4.00%) Windows
2 7 (1.56%) Linux
3 5 (1.11%) Windows 10
3 5 (1.11%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.44%) Unix
5 1 (0.22%) Android
5 1 (0.22%) VMS
5 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (21.33%) Stakeholder Management
2 79 (17.56%) Continuous Improvement
3 74 (16.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 60 (13.33%) Service Delivery
5 55 (12.22%) Migration
6 54 (12.00%) Agile
7 53 (11.78%) ERP
8 48 (10.67%) Decision-Making
9 46 (10.22%) Problem-Solving
10 39 (8.67%) Change Management
11 37 (8.22%) Project Delivery
12 35 (7.78%) Roadmaps
13 34 (7.56%) Data Protection
14 33 (7.33%) User Acceptance Testing
15 32 (7.11%) Digital Transformation Programme
16 30 (6.67%) Data Migration
17 29 (6.44%) Analytics
17 29 (6.44%) Collaborative Working
17 29 (6.44%) Validation
18 27 (6.00%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 28 (6.22%) SQL
2 6 (1.33%) Java
2 6 (1.33%) JavaScript
2 6 (1.33%) Python
3 4 (0.89%) C#
3 4 (0.89%) Data Analysis Expressions
3 4 (0.89%) PowerShell
4 3 (0.67%) ABAP
5 2 (0.44%) Go
5 2 (0.44%) Scala
5 2 (0.44%) T-SQL
5 2 (0.44%) TypeScript
6 1 (0.22%) Apex Code
6 1 (0.22%) Bicep
6 1 (0.22%) Groovy
6 1 (0.22%) PL/SQL
6 1 (0.22%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 21 (4.67%) Security Cleared
2 15 (3.33%) SC Cleared
3 14 (3.11%) Degree
4 13 (2.89%) BPSS Clearance
4 13 (2.89%) DBS Check
5 7 (1.56%) DV Cleared
6 6 (1.33%) NVQ Level 3
7 5 (1.11%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (0.89%) CCNA
8 4 (0.89%) CCNP
8 4 (0.89%) CISSP
9 3 (0.67%) Azure Certification
9 3 (0.67%) CIPFA
9 3 (0.67%) CISM
9 3 (0.67%) SAP Certification
10 2 (0.44%) CIMA
10 2 (0.44%) Computer Science Degree
10 2 (0.44%) IIBA
10 2 (0.44%) Master's Degree
10 2 (0.44%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (6.22%) Data Quality
2 25 (5.56%) GDPR
3 15 (3.33%) PMO
4 13 (2.89%) Accessibility
5 10 (2.22%) SLA
6 8 (1.78%) QA
7 7 (1.56%) Cyber Essentials
7 7 (1.56%) NCSC
8 6 (1.33%) PCI DSS
8 6 (1.33%) WCAG
9 4 (0.89%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 4 (0.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 3 (0.67%) PERC
11 2 (0.44%) GRC
11 2 (0.44%) IFRS
11 2 (0.44%) NIST
12 1 (0.22%) BS7666
12 1 (0.22%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.22%) Government Security Classifications
12 1 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 11 (2.44%) Active Directory
2 5 (1.11%) Docker
2 5 (1.11%) Hyper-V
2 5 (1.11%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.22%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 8 (1.78%) Terraform
2 7 (1.56%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.44%) Grafana
3 2 (0.44%) Kibana
3 2 (0.44%) Microsoft Intune
3 2 (0.44%) SCCM
4 1 (0.22%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 67 (14.89%) Microsoft
2 60 (13.33%) Oracle
3 44 (9.78%) SAP
4 19 (4.22%) NEC
5 11 (2.44%) Liquidlogic
6 9 (2.00%) Civica
7 6 (1.33%) ServiceNow
7 6 (1.33%) VMware
8 5 (1.11%) Ariba
9 4 (0.89%) Cisco
9 4 (0.89%) Google
9 4 (0.89%) Infoblox
9 4 (0.89%) Orchard
9 4 (0.89%) Palo Alto
10 3 (0.67%) Juniper
10 3 (0.67%) Kronos
10 3 (0.67%) Salesforce
10 3 (0.67%) Sitecore
10 3 (0.67%) Splunk
11 2 (0.44%) Northgate