b"Local Government Lawyer 11respondents grumbled about the costsplan on cutting their numbers more than anyto decrease their numbers and build a management difficulties associated withother role-type. workforce for the future instead.locums.According to the survey, 39% ofThis all points to a cooling down of the It is an industry in itselflocumrespondents planned to decrease the numberlocum market, offering a chance for councils wrangling as we refer to it, one respondentof locum solicitors and barristers eitherto break the cycle- and in some councils the commented. significantly (21%) or moderately (18%).changes are already affecting hiring patterns.They added: They are not the easiest toThe second most at-risk positions wereOne respondent even claimed the practice manage (some can have diva tendencies),locum legal officers, paralegals, and legalhas enlivened the permanent jobs market. and we make sure they have done their timeassistants, with 21% planning to decreaseThey said: As councils release locums due recording before we sign off their timesheets. their numbers significantly and 9% planningto budget constraints, we are now seeing However another head of legal reportedon reducing their numbers moderately.more applications for senior and qualified that locums are often times nervous asExplaining their reasoning for scaling back,roles.they fear being bullied out or terminated onone respondent said their department simply a whim. Some managers like this, frankly. cannot afford staff at locum rates. Succession problemsLooking at the data, some locums wouldSome reported putting freezes onWhile freezing or capping locum hires be right to be nervous, because heads of legalhiring locums, while others said they plancould work as a strategy for improving the Which practice areas are hardest to recruit in?While heads of legal are in consensus that itAfter procurement, heads of legal rankedand Families Act 2014.is a tough recruitment market overall, somechildrens services and adult social care as theWhile the disposal time is moving in the practice areas are tougher to hire in thanthird and fourth most troublesome areas forright direction (it is down three weeks in others.recruitment. October to December 2024, compared to its Planning tops the list, with 75% ofFifty-four per cent of respondents listedequivalent 2023 quarter), much more work respondents ranking it among the five mostchildrens services in their top five, which iswill need to be done to hit the 26-week limit difficult areas to hire in, 21% of which namedunderstandable given the pressures facing thisconsistently. it the single hardest area to fill (See table 3). side of local government legal practice. The workload for adult social care lawyers, In one extreme case, a head of legal toldAccording to the latest statistics from themeanwhile, has been growing steadily since the survey that a senior planning lawyer roleMinistry of Justice, the number of public law2014, following the Supreme Courts decision at their council had sat vacant for nearly acases in the Family Court increased by 3%in P v Cheshire West and Chester Council decade. from July to September when compared with& Anor, which significantly expanded the This dearth of planning lawyers couldthe equivalent 2023 quarter. definition of deprivation of liberty.spell trouble in the future as the GovernmentAt the same time, Sir Andrew MacfarlaneSince then, the number of Deprivation ramps up its ambitious aim to build 1.5 millionrecently urged the sector to reduce theof Liberty Safeguards applications has risen homes over the next five years. average time for a care and supervision caseconsistently, with NHS England data showing The Government kicked off its programmeto reach first disposal from 40 weeks down tothe numbers 2023-24 shot up to more than with sweeping planning reforms by waythe 26-week limit introduced in the Children330,000, an increase of 11%.of amending the National Planning Policy Framework in January 2025a change setTable 3: Which specialisms are most difficult to recruit into?to keep planning lawyers busy in the coming years.Planning 75%In recognition of the pressures on planning decisions and local plan-making, theProcurement/Contracts 72%Government pledged an extra 46m to fundChildren's Services 54%more planning officers for councils in EnglandAdult Social Services 53%and Wales but has been quiet about helpingProperty 46%more planning lawyers into the system.Litigation/Prosecutions 34%Procurement and contracts lawyers meanwhile came a close second in terms ofGovernance 28%difficulty hiring, with 72% of respondentsEmployment 26%listing them as one of the five most difficultEducation 25%professionals to recruit.Housing 12%As with planning, the need forLicensing 9%procurement and contracts professionals looksHighways 7%set to increase, with reforms billed as the biggest upheaval to procurement law in yearsEnvironmental 4%coming into force in February 2025 under theInformation Law 3%Procurement Act."