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Job summary

The post is Head of Local Government Area Costs and Distributional Analysis.  This is a high profile economics role within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities offering the opportunity to lead influential pieces of economic analysis in the area of local government finance where annual expenditure is around £60bn.  The economic analysis produced will form a critical part of future Ministerial advice on local government finance policy options.  

The post sits within the Local Policy Analysis (LPA) Division within the Analysis and Data Directorate.  LPA is a multi-disciplinary team of around 36 economists, statisticians, operational and social researchers.  LPA plays an instrumental role in the delivery of local public services with its analysis playing a critical role in the design and delivery of local government finance policies.  LPA’s analysis is continuously in demand from senior officials, Ministers and other government departments.  Some examples of the division’s work include:

•    Leading the analysis on central government measures to support local government finance in response to Covid-19;

•    Leading analysis on the review of local authority relative need and the distribution of new funding;

•    Leading the analysis of local government funding need for the Spending Review.  The division has been leading analysis on future spending pressure faced by local government and what the potential funding need is for local government over the spending review period;

•    Leading the analysis on local authority financial risk and sustainability;

•    Leading the analysis of policy options and modelling for the annual Local Government Finance Settlement; and

•    Leading the analysis on business rates and council tax policy more generally.

Job description

The postholder will be responsible for leading a small team of an Assistant Economist and Economic Apprentice to deliver influential analysis on several high profile workstreams including:

•    The development and calculation of the Area Cost Adjustment (ACA).  The ACA forms part of the formulas used to distribute funding to local authorities where it helps account for differential labour and business rate costs across local authorities.  The postholder will analyse new wage data and re-estimate ACA factors by applying analytical techniques such as regression analysis to control for factors that drive differences in labour costs.  The postholder will also lead projects around the ACA such as whether areas that are more remote have relatively higher area costs and will lead on identifying potential improvements to the ACA.  The postholder will play a key role in providing advice on the impact of different options and policy choices.

•    Leading the equalities analysis of local government finance policy options.  Local government services have significant impacts on people and places and understanding how policy choices impact on people is crucial.  The postholder can expect to lead all equalities analysis of local government finance policy options to help inform decisions including at fiscal events and for the high profile Local Government Finance Settlement. 

•    Leading value for money analysis with respect to any future local government restructuring.  This includes leading on the economic appraisals of any future proposals.

•    Leading the development of appraisal methods to help assess the value for money of different policy choices on local government finance.  This includes both the application of Green Book techniques to local government financial distributions and supporting LPA’s work on allocative efficiency which aims to develop our understanding of the wider economic impacts of local government expenditure.  This is a new and developing area in local government finance where the postholder can expect to work with other analysts in LPA to develop our understanding of the link between expenditure and outcomes.  This workstream requires innovative thinking and the ability to apply economic principles and cost-benefit analysis.

The postholder will line manage an Assistant Economist and an Economic Apprentice who will support the postholder on the above workstreams.  The postholder can also expect to task manage other analysts within the division on particular projects.

The postholder will have the opportunity to:

•    Lead high profile pieces of analysis in a policy area where annual local government expenditure is around £60bn;

•    Work closely with senior officials, other government departments and Ministers;

•    Work in a multi-disciplinary environment with analysts of different specialisms, building the evidence base for policies on local government finance and influencing policy direction; and

•    Apply and develop leadership and economic skills.  The postholder can also expect significant learning and development when in post, both on-the-job learning, peer-to-peer learning and internal and external training.

Person specification

The postholder needs to meet the academic requirements of the Government Economic Service which is to have a first or upper second-class honours degree in economics (or international equivalent), or a postgraduate degree in economics. If it is a joint degree, at least 50% of the course modules must be in economics.   The postholder must also have studied both macroeconomics and microeconomics.

The postholder also needs to meet the technical requirement of the Government Economic Service for a Grade 7 which are set out here  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ges-technical-framework-2022.

Key skills required include:

•    Strong microeconomic skills including knowledge of cost benefit analysis and the ability to apply these skills to policy problems (essential)

•    Comfortable working with large and complex datasets (essential)

•    Ability to present and communicate complex analysis clearly and in an impactful way (essential)

•    Sound knowledge of econometrics and other analytical techniques (desirable but not essential)

•    Sound knowledge of statistical packages such as STATA or R (desirable but not essential)

Offered benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Selection process details

We are for everyone 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.  

We are for everyone 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise). 

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors. 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  

• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  

• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

At sift, we will be assessing 

Behaviour (Lead Behaviour): Making Effective Decisions

Behaviour: Seeing the Big Picture

Behaviour: Changing and Improving

Behaviour: Leadership

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of behaviour and technical based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates. Candidates will be expected to deliver a presentation at interview stage, the details of which would be provided upon invitation.

In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Leadership

Technical: At interview stage we will assess you against all the standard Government Economic Service competencies for a Grade 7 economist which are:

•    Application of knowledge
•    Analysis of data
•    Effective communication

These technical requirements for a Grade 7 are set out here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ges-technical-framework-2022

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign 

Grade 7 salary 

• The salary for this role is £49,697 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. 

BENEFITS: 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 
Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• Wolverhampton 

• Darlington* 

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service. This role is based at DLUHC and we will be joined on the campus by: 

• HM Treasury  

• Department for International Trade 

• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy  

• Office for National Statistics  

• Department for Education 

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 21st October 2022 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

RESERVE LIST: 
 
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register 

Contact details