Councils' hiring costs 'shocking'

Last Modified: 09 Jul 2008
Source: PA News

Councils are hiring expensive agency staff and consultants when they should be spending money on permanent employees, a union has said.

Unison revealed "shocking" figures showing that local authorities in East Midlands have spent £340 million over the past three years on private consultants and temporary workers.

The union, which has called a two-day strike by over 600,000 council workers next week in a dispute over pay, said the money was just the "tip of the iceberg".

Teaching assistants, refuse collectors, cooks, cleaners, social workers, librarians and other public sector staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walkout on July 16 and 17 after rejecting a 2.45% pay offer.

Heather Wakefield, Unison's head of local government, said: "Local government employers say they cannot afford to give staff more than a below inflation 2.45% pay offer. However, severe staff shortages are forcing councils to use expensive agencies to find people to cover vacancies.

"Many of these temporary staff may be persuaded to become permanent if councils would only pay more. This would cut down on expensive agency fees and save large amounts of time and money on recruitment ads and interviewing.

"The £340 million is an awful lot of council taxpayers' money to be spent in one region and this amount is just the tip of the iceberg.

"The frank truth is that councils are doing the same across the UK and the total amount being spent is likely to add up to billions."

These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.