Vacancy Details

About the role

Our Care Leaver paid Internship supports the LGA’s commitment to strengthen opportunities and support for care leavers within the LGA, as part of our ‘Step Ahead’ campaign and broader work to improve support and outcomes for care leavers.

The LGA’s 12- month Care Leaver internship aims to support care leavers to gain valuable skills and experience within local government and provide a foundation for future training or employment. 

To be eligible to apply for The LGA’s Care Leaver Internship Programme you need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

• • Demonstrate the right to work within the UK
  • Aged between 18 and 25
  • Qualified for a leaving care support package when you left care.

To qualify for leaving care support, you must have been in care for a minimum of 13 weeks, some of which must have been after your 16th birthday’.  Those who are invited to interview will be asked to provide a letter from their Leaving Care team who can confirm their care leaver status. This could be from your personal adviser (PA), or a member of local authority.

• • We do not require you to have any qualifications

You will offer administrative and practical assistance to your designated team, helping them to achieve their objectives. 

Your day-to-day tasks will differ based on your placement within the organisation, but you will be involved in tasks like problem solving, business planning, administration tasks, supporting budget management and contributing to team projects. Working within a supportive team and under the guidance of team leaders you'll also independently manage specific aspects of work within programmes or projects.

Effective communication and organisational skills will be crucial in your daily tasks, and you may be required to take a forward-thinking approach, who is eager to learn and develop new skills.

The role will be based in our office in Smith Square, Westminster, London. Therefore, there is a need for you to be able to come to the office so you will need to be located/living within the London commuting range.

You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage. 

To apply

We are asking that you complete an online application form, which will ask you to provide a personal statement telling us how you have demonstrated the following skills: 

• How familiar you are with using computer packages like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• How you communicate with different people. For example, using the telephone, face to face and using written communication
• How you demonstrate good organisational skills
• How would prioritise differing activities
• What motivates you in your career/volunteer roles/college/university

In your personal statement, you could provide examples when you have previously demonstrated these skills. This might be at work or somewhere like work experience, volunteering, college, university or in connection with a hobby.

Hints and tips for applying

The LGA’s Care Leaver Internship Programme is open to all care leavers who meet the eligibility requirements for the role, 

1. Ensure that you have checked that you meet all the eligibility criteria for the Programme.
2. Ensure you read carefully the details of the vacancy, the responsibilities and the skills required for the roles.
3. You have your personal statement shows that you meet the essential criteria and skills.

Successful applicants will be subject to successful completion of pre-employment checks.

Deadline for all applications 8th April 12:00.

If you have any questions, please contact EDI@local.gov.uk

Closing Date:         5pm, 8th April
Interview Date:     17th April, interviews will be held in person at LGA offices

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. The LGA are proud to be awarded a “Disability Confident Leader”.  If you are require  an reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have. Please contact us via HRandPayroll@local.gov.uk 

Our benefits

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).*
• Flexible & agile working – office-based staff are required to work in the LGA’s London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development – face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies

For more of LGA’s benefits and working with us, please view our webpage https://www.local.gov.uk/benefits-and-working-lga

Our values & behaviours 

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other 
• how we work with our members and stakeholders
• our expectations for ourselves and each other 

Our values are:

Inclusive - We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices. 

Ambitious - We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Collaborative - We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.