A belated non-job of the week this week, but we’re still finding needless positions being advertised by local authorities who’re currently tasked with making significant cutbacks.
On the website ‘publicsectorjobs.net’ we found that Ballymena Borough Council are looking for a ‘Part-time Assistant Community Relations Officer’ on £19,621- 21,519 pro-rata to implement the authorities ‘Good Relations Strategy’, which just looks like more busybodying on the taxpayer whilst frontline services come under threat.
And notably, some of the vacant posts we’ve been finding are of the type identified by our recent Unnecessary Jobs paper – like the Climate Change Officer being offered between £20,198 - £26,276 per year to work at Gloucestershire County Council, where they will join two other such officers...
Similarly, this week’s non-job of the week came under fire in our recent report, but that hasn’t stopped Nottingham City Council (who actually failed to respond when we contacted them as part of our original research):
“Equality and Diversity Consultant
£25k - £35k pa
Ideally you have experience of the Equality Framework for local government, equality impact assessment and equality within procurement. You will be very strong on building relationships with colleagues and managers as well as external bodies, and able to support the internal staff networks for various groups. You should also be used to working under pressure and to tight deadlines and capable of operating in an autonomous environment”.
A brief description for a pretty lucrative role, but why is it some councils seem to manage without a team of equality bureaucrats advising on stifling red-tape? Authorities need to think innovatively, and try to meet their legal obligations without creating new positions or hiring costly consultants. Some save costs by merging roles or giving certain responsibilities to existing officers rather than building whole departments around their obligations. Given the pressure on budgets, that seems like an option all of local government should be considering...