Brighton and Hove City Council has made big cuts in spending on job adverts by switching from newspapers to the internet.
A report presented to the council’s cabinet said that costs were cut from £900,000 in 2006 to £236,000 last year.
Now the council wants to team up with other organisations to find one agency to handle recruiting across a large swath of the public sector.
The cabinet approved plans to offer a contract to an outside agency jointly with Sussex Police and East Sussex County Council.
The idea behind the joint move is to improve the council’s purchasing power so that better deals can be negotiated, reducing advertising costs even further.
Other public sector organisations are said to be interested in joining in with the arrangement, including
- the district councils in East Sussex
- the Pensions Regulator
- the new South Downs National Park Authority
The council also hopes to attract interest from councils in West Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The cabinet report said that Brighton and Hove had achieved savings by switching its advertising from print – including newspapers and magazines – to online sites.
It put the average cost of advertising a job in the press at £2,000 compared with £500 using “job boards” – lists of available job titles with a web address for more information.
The report said that the move had not led to a drop in the quality of applicants while the quantity had increased.
Average numbers responding had gone up from 16 per job to 34.
The cabinet agreed to sign a five-year contract with an agency starting next July.
Council leader Mary Mears said: “This is an example of the way we’re being imaginative to get better value for money for taxpayers.
“By working more closely with other bodies we’re sure there must be many more savings to be had in other areas.”
