I am satisfied that the revised engineering and the new construction management qualifications declared under section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 in July 2025 adequately provide options for eligibility for promotional opportunities for all engineers working in the local government sector. The previous set of qualifications had not kept pace with educational awards and were restricted only to applicants holding an honours degree (level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications) in Engineering.
In addition to the revision of engineering qualifications, other new qualifications declared open up a range of avenues for individuals for promotion which were not available prior to these changes.
In the event that an employee does not currently meet the essential educational requirements for a more senior engineering role as stipulated in the declared qualifications, it is a matter for that individual to pursue further learning opportunities in order to become eligible. The local government sector is supportive of life-long learning for all its employees. In addition, flexibility has been provided to local authorities and their staff to meet operational needs in terms of other new qualifications for posts analogous to Assistant and Executive Engineer in the fields of construction / project management, energy management, facilities management and fleet management. These newly declared qualifications provide additional promotion opportunities for individuals qualified in these particular areas.
My Department does not hold data on the educational awards that local authority employees hold and has no role in assessing if candidates are eligible for competitions; this is a matter for the recruiting authority which is either a local authority or publicjobs depending on the grade and tenure of the post concerned. However, there were extensive consultations with employee representatives as part of this process to ensure that their views were understood and considered as part of the review process.
