Councils in three different areas of England are collaborating to advertise jobs online through new regional recruitment portals. It means people looking for work in the South East, the East Midlands and the South West will soon have a one-stop shop for council jobs in their area.

The new portals will allow users to search and apply for a range of employment in councils and in some cases at jobs in the fire and rescue services and with other public sector employers. The three regions are developing linked recruitment portals following the successful launch of NorthEastJobs.org in 2009. The programme is funded by Communities and Local Government and is being delivered by the North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership.

First on line will be Southeastjobs.org.uk, which will be available in July. The Portals in the East Midlands and South West will follow shortly afterwards. Another regional portal is being considered by local authorities in the North West of England. The new portals are supported by a system supplied by Tribal.

NorthEastJobs has already brought together 14 councils and fire and rescue services in the North East, covering an area from Berwick to Redcar. Helen Paterson, Strategic Director of Transformation and Chair of the National Programme Board said: “In difficult economic times we are collaborating to make finding employment in the public sector as easy as possible. NorthEastJobs helps job seekers and keeps recruitment costs down.”

The Regional Director of South East Employers, Jennifer McNeill, said their new portal would support 74 councils in driving down advertising and recruitment costs and in raising their profiles as employers.