Ealing Council has ranked ninth in the country for its spend on agency staff, forking out £80,797,314 since 2010.
Local authorities around the country are rehiring staff they have recently made redundant, says an investigation by The Times newspaper, in what the publication calls a ‘scandalous £5 billion spending spree’ on agency and consultancy workers.
The Times revealed figures yesterday (January 14) showing dozens of councils dishing out more than £50 million with five spending over £100m since 2010-11.
A lot of the cash has been used on agency social workers but an increasing amount is now going on interim managers and consultants, who can earn up to £1,000 a day.
Leader of Ealing’s Liberal Democrats, Councillor Gary Malcolm, has criticised Ealing Council for being the ‘ninth most wasteful council in the country’ and says this has put the council in a bad light.
Mr Malcolm said: “Ealing Council should not be re-hiring staff it has just made redundant. That is poor management. It has only slightly reduced its spending on agency staff whilst other councils have reduced lots of agency staff spending.
“Ealing Council needs to stop any wasteful spending and protect services for the vulnerable like the Solace Centre and the Carlton Road Day Centre.”
The council however has said the Times article does not accurately reflect their hiring procedures nor were they asked by the paper about their rehiring policies.
An Ealing Council spokesman said: "We carefully manage our staffing restructures to meet required savings and therefore employees are made redundant as their positions are no longer needed. Furthermore we have an exit clause which states that staff cannot return to work at the council in any capacity, for example agency or consultant, for a period of six months once their post is deleted.
“Like any large organisation, there are times when the council needs to use agency staff to cover essential posts, using existing budgets, on a temporary basis for example to cover a maternity leave or long-term sickness. We are replacing the use of agency staff where possible with staff facing redundancy. Where we have to use agency staff, we are committed to driving down the cost by joining with other public sector organisations and using our combined purchasing power to reduce the cost of suppliers.
“The employment of consultants is strictly controlled and each appointment is only approved following a review by senior officers and councillors. By doing so, the council can tap into specialist technical skills and advice, as needed, for specific matters. It can be more efficient and cost significantly less than permanently employing members of staff with these skills.”
A freedom of information request by The Times showed the worst offender on agency expenditure was Birmingham city council, spending £155m since 2010-11.
Seventeen London boroughs spent between £50m and £125m on agency and consultancy staff.
