News & Blogs

Leadership, Governance & Support  The 2026 local elections have brought significant political change across the North West, particularly in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region. A shift away from single-party control, the emergence of increased political groups in many areas, alongside an increase in the number of new elected members signals a new phase of local governance, one […]

Recently, we organised a webinar titled “AI and Senior HR Leadership in Local Government.” This session brought together HR and OD colleagues from across the region to explore how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the HR profession and the public sector workforce. Aimed at senior leaders—including Directors and Heads of HR & OD—the webinar provided a […]

This report provides a timely stocktake of how artificial intelligence is being adopted in local government, what benefits are emerging, and what barriers still limit its wider deployment.

We wanted to share a report from the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub titled “AI in Local Government: Adoption, Benefits and Challenges” (April 2026). AI in Local Government – Adoption, Benefits and Challenges The paper provides a useful overview of how UK local authorities are currently using AI, where it is delivering value (particularly in areas […]

  North West Employers is pleased to announce a new partnership with Castlefield Recruitment to deliver a seamless, end to end recruitment and assessment service for our member organisations.  The partnership brings together our longstanding expertise in supporting elected members and senior leaders with Castlefield’s specialist executive search and selection capability. Together, we will provide […]

A recent thought leadership project conducted by North West Employers and Manchester Metropolitan University showed that over 76% of line-managers in North West Councils have had experience of managing neurodivergent colleagues,  and that more training, support and shared learning is needed to further support more neuro-inclusive workplaces.  North West Employers undertook this work after requests from […]

Give: Public recognition to a woman who inspires you Gain: A chance to have a free coaching session lasting 1.5 hours! Our bespoke coaching, training, leadership programmes support and strengthen leadership at all levels. You might want coaching on how to approach your career development or to work through a sensitive issue at work. You choose the focus […]

North West Employers is part of a national project which has created the ‘Local Government Workforce Capacity Metrics Survey’. This is an annual survey, accessed via an online portal supported by InfiniStats, which aims to help councils measure and better understand the capacity of their workforces to deliver services to their communities. It also enables […]

Did you know that North West Employers provides Secretariat support to the North West Regional Leaders Board? The Board brings together Council Leaders from across the North West to discuss key challenges and opportunities for the sector and to develop the North West voice on the topics that matter. The July meeting welcomed Councillor Anthony […]

Make a Difference: New Campaign Launched to Attract People to Council Careers  People are being encouraged to ‘Make a Difference’ in their communities by embarking on a rewarding career with their local council. A new campaign, ‘Make a Difference, Work for your Local Council’, aims to inspire individuals to explore career opportunities that have a […]

Gillian Bishop, Chief Executive, North West Employers Published: 08/08/2023 Irrespective of where the conversation starts within local government circles, you can almost guarantee that as part of the discussion you will end up talking about the biggest challenge that is facing us – yes, it is finances, but also our people, our workforce. The focus […]

Blog by Sharon Senior, Executive Director at North West Employers, 14 November 2022 IntroductionGatenbySanderson and North West Employers hosted a round table discussion with nine senior leaders in HR/OD from local government across the North West. Facilitated by Philip Emms (Senior Consultant – Local Government, GS), Phil Whitman (Client Solutions Partner, GS) and Sharon Senior […]