b'PermanentLocal Government Lawyer 9problemRecruiting permanent legal professionals is becoming tougher for local government, leaving departments reliant on costly locum positions- but could this cycle be set to end? Adam Carey considers how departments are changing their recruitment practices in response to hiring woes. Recruitment has always been tough for local government legal departments, but the latest Legal Department of the Future survey shows that the challenges have intensified, with a record 76% of heads of legal listing recruitment and retention in their top five concerns (See table 2). When asked directly about how difficult it is to hire good lawyers, 44% of respondents said it was quite difficult, and a further 54% reported it being very difficult. Just 2% said they had found recruiting easy (See table 1). This is in contrast to the 2019 LDoTF results. While the vast majority reported recruitment to be troublesome six years ago, 7% found it quite easy.The second most listed challenge th was cost control and budgetary issues, tying into recruitment troubles, as many heads of legal have complained that budget freezes have, in turn, led to salary freezes.Elsewhere in the survey, heads of legal listed the lack of experience and resourcesTable 1: In general, how easy or difficult is it to hire good lawyers in the present market?in client departments as the third most pressing issue (43%), which again underlines an overarching talent problem in localVery difficult 54%government.39%So why are councils finding it hard to44%recruit and are they running out of optionsQuite difficult 54%when it comes to solutions? The causes are clearwith the followingQuite easy 1%issues cropping up often: Salaries lag behind7% 2024private practice, budgets are frozen, and fewer1% 2019young lawyers are entering the sector. What isVery easy 0%not clear is exactly how to fix it.'