About us
West Suffolk Council is an extremely ambitious and dynamic local authority with a workforce of over 700 employees. We provide healthy, safe and vibrant places to live and work. Few other employers play such a pivotal role in the community. That's a great responsibility but also very rewarding and something that really makes a difference.
Like many councils our priorities are around growth, homes and families and communities. We have huge ambitions around making this area even more prosperous, creating jobs, building homes, ageing well - but again, so do many councils. What makes us stand out and makes us an exciting place to work is the sheer scale of the projects we are running.
As part of our commercial agenda, which is all about making up the gap in Government funding by creating our own income (rather than cutting services), we have:
- invested in a huge solar farm (twice the size of other council owned facilities) to generate revenue and provide cheaper electricity to communities
- created a housing company to building our own homes for rent and sale
- and progressed the Mildenhall Hub project which will bring education, leisure, health, police, council and other services together on to a single site, which we believe is a first in the country.
So far from any preconceptions you may have, West Suffolk Council is a forwarding thinking and innovative place to work offering a range of career opportunities. If you embrace change and the opportunities it can bring then we can offer you a fascinating, challenging and always interesting workplace.
Main Offices - West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3YU
Mildenhall Hub, Sheldrick Way, Mildenhall, IP28 7JX
What we do
Our services include:
- Elections - our democratic nature is what makes us different, and we organise and run all the elections in West Suffolk, as well as making sure that everyone eligible is able to vote through electoral registration.
- Leisure and Heritage Management - with our fantastic parks and natural leisure spaces, museums, heritage centres, and the Apex venue.
- Housing - providing decent homes for our communities through building and adapting; maintaining the housing needs register and preventing homelessness.
- Planning - working with our communities to plan where jobs and homes will go, deciding planning applications, and providing building control, design and conservation services.
- Economic Development and Growth - attracting jobs and infrastructure funding to West Suffolk, developing skills needed in the workforce and ensuring the health of our high streets and market towns.
- Environmental Services - collection and recycling waste, cleaning our streets, and landscaping and maintaining public spaces.
- Families and Communities - working with communities to achieve their aspirations through things like funding, arts and sports development.
- Environmental Health - including environmental management and protection, dealing with energy, pollution, nuisance and registration and inspection of food establishments.
- Licensing - helps to control the sale and supply of alcohol, regulated entertainment, late night refreshment, gambling, taxi and private hire services, small lotteries, charitable collections and much more.
- Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) - http://www.angliarevenues.gov.uk/
Core professional services help the above teams to do their jobs, and include Human Resources, Finance, Legal, ICT, Policy and Property Services.
Apprenticeships
By becoming an apprentice at West Suffolk you will have the opportunity to earn, learn and work at the same time. You’ll get training from us, gain skills in your job role and understand what it means to be in the workplace by being in a hands on environment. You will study for an apprenticeship standard up to degree level, across a range of subjects from business administration, finance, surveying, planning to waste resources, mechanical engineering and arboriculture. Depending on your apprenticeship you will attend external training to complete your qualification or be given dedicated time away from work to study. As well as the support of your college and assessor we ensure that you are supported at work by your manager and a workplace mentor.
We will work together to help you progress at the right speed. All the modules in your structured study programme will develop valuable skills for your future career and will help you build a great CV, with the type of practical skills and experience that employers look for.
Take a look at our Apprenticeship Programme brochure for further details
Graduates
We believe that graduates bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to organisations, which can be hugely beneficial. We understand that universities encourage their students to look at processes and systems with a critical eye, and this attitude transfers well to a working environment such as ours. Therefore, we are committed to developing talent by offering personal development via our corporate training programme and also financially support to undertaking job related professional qualifications appropriate to progress chosen career-paths.
Find out about our Public Sector Graduate Programme
Internships
We offer 12 week paid internships each summer which give university students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience and knowledge to support their studies.
Work Experience
We are committed to offering high-quality work experience placements, which are tailored and planned for the individual and provide a valuable experience of working with us. Work experience is a great way of providing yourself with knowledge of public sector work, local government or more specifically an individual service.
Visit our website for further details
More Information
West Suffolk Apprentice Website: Go to our website and see videos and stories of other apprentices who have worked and progressed with us and see how an apprenticeship with West Suffolk could be your route to success.
Current Job Vacancies: See what we have to offer and our current apprentice vacancies.
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