A joint HR procurement initiative among London councils has extended the terms of its outsourced recruitment contract to include outplacement services.

The London Boroughs Recruitment Partnership (LBRP) has appointed Penna as its advertising agent and provider of strategic HR services.

The contract’s remit was expanded to include outplacement programmes to reflect public-sector workforce downsizing, according to the LBRP’s Dean Shoesmith.

“We regularly review the component elements of this strategic procurement partnership to ensure that what is offered meets current business context and need – hence we have added outplacement services as part of the offering given the current, significant retrenchment programme many of the London Boroughs partners have to address,” said Shoesmith.