Should Civil Service jobs ads be online-only?

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called for all Civil Service jobs to be advertised in a standard format online in a move to cut bureaucratic red tape, reduce costs and eliminate pointless jobs.

Addressing a Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth, Pickles said placing ads solely online would not only save thousands of pounds in taxpayer money on print advertising costs, but also expose adverts to wider scrutiny, allowing greater insight as to whether the post in question is actually necessary at all.

"Like the Prime Minister has said, we need to 'rip off that cloak of secrecy and extend transparency as far and as wide as possible', so that people no longer think Government has something to hide," Pickles argued.

"Putting jobs online not only shows local people where their money is going. It will mean they can question whether those jobs are really needed at all."

Pickles cited adverts for posts such as "cheerleading development officer", "audience development officer" and "communications waste strategy officer" as examples, suggesting that councils could save money not just by placing job ads online, but by scrapping such jobs altogether.

"One council was even advertising for someone to spin for their bins last week," Pickles revealed. "I wonder whether their residents actually want a 'communications waste strategy officer'. Or whether they'd prefer a few more bin men."

With adverts in some national newspapers costing as much as 5,000 to 10,000 apiece, an already struggling industry will be hard hit should the recommendations be followed. However, Pickles made it clear he wasn't advocating completely abandoning advertising in traditional media.

He argued that local papers remained an important resource for advertising jobs, particularly in reaching those without internet access though given government pledges to extend broadband access to even the most remote areas, this already-small number is only going to get smaller.