Section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides the Minister with the power to declare qualifications of such classes and descriptions as he or she thinks fit for a specified employment under a local authority or for such of the employments as belong to a specified class, description or grade.
The declared qualifications for engineering posts in the local government sector specify that a candidate must hold an honours degree (level 8 in the National Framework of Qualifications) in Engineering. The recruitment and filling of posts in the local authority sector is undertaken both by individual local authorities and the Public Appointments Service depending on the level and tenure of the post concerned. Section 160(1)(c) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that a person is not to be appointed to any employment under a local authority for which qualifications are for the time being declared under section 160 unless he or she possesses those qualifications.
My Department undertakes reviews of declared qualifications as necessary and in April this year a Working Group was established for the purpose of reviewing the existing suite of engineering qualifications in the local government sector and to propose changes to those qualifications where necessary.
To date the Working Group has undertaken an in-depth analysis and review of the engineering qualifications through engagement with local authorities, key stakeholders and other interested parties. The review of the engineering qualifications is being progressed as a priority.
