Solace blog

Joanne Roney, Solace President, said: “Demand for services is rising, the challenges our people and
places face are becoming increasingly complex, and yet councils are struggling to recruit and retain
staff at all levels required to meet the needs of the communities we serve.

“At Solace we have repeatedly warned about the workforce capacity and capability crisis in local
government so the publication of the House of Lords Public Services Committee’s ‘Rethinking the
public services workforce’ report is both timely and helpful in recognising the scale of the personnel
problems councils, and the public sector more widely, are facing.

“I am delighted the Committee has listened to Solace’s written and oral evidence, highlighting our
‘Local First’ proposal to attract high quality candidates to work in local government and
recommending greater prioritisation of preventative services – something we have consistently
called for.

“While the impact of workforce woes are felt locally, the report rightly identifies the key role of
central Government, working with local government and other public sector partners, in addressing
this problem. So it is crucial the next Prime Minister and their Ministers seize the opportunity in the
coming months to start tackling this issue which is severely threatening councils’ ability to improve
places and the lives of our residents.”