Council wants more young people to join workforce

About 80% of the council's workforce is aged between 35 and 64

A council hopes to employ more young people as only 3% of its workforce is aged from 16 to 24.

Peterborough City Council employment figures showed 80% of staff were aged between 35 and 64.

Sarah Spendelow, head of people and development, said the council should try to appeal to more young people.

A report on the council's workforce said many roles required experience, technical expertise and qualifications that young people may not yet have, but it hoped to increase recruitment.

'Key concern'

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said recruitment, particularly in areas such as social work, would be driven up through apprenticeships.

Ms Spendelow said: “Age 16 to 24 is a key concern because we’re not tapping into a younger workforce.

"I think there’s many reasons for that; part of it is probably the local authority’s reputation.

"We need to be working more closely with schools, colleges and universities to promote a career in local government.”

She added that the council was investing in its recruitment practices and had added a new manager to oversee it, and that she would like to see a review carried out.

A report on the council's workforce showed that 74% of its workforce of 1,281 was female, and 13% had an ethnicity other than white.

Six per cent had a sexuality other than heterosexual and 4% had a disability.

The LDRS said the data was self-reported and true figures could slightly differ.