Town halls spent £2bn on consultants and agency staff last year, according to new figures.
Data collated by Unison, obtained by The MJ, shows councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland spent an estimated £1.4bn on agency staff in 2007/08, and £660m on consultants.
That represents a small decrease in agency spending, but a rise in expenditure on consultants, despite warnings from ministers to clamp down on external advice.
Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, said: ‘Some of this spending is understandable, but a total of £2bn is shocking, and reflects the fact that some councils are not thinking strategically.’
Unison is concerned spending on consultants is rising, and shortages of teaching, staff, waste disposal and social services staff forces many councils to rely heavily on temporary staff for key services.
Problems are acute in London, where high staff turnover forces boroughs to use temps. Lambeth LBC, for example, spent £34m on agency staff.
Ms Wakefield said: ‘We’ve known about these recruitment issues for years… yet little has been done to address the problem, and service quality is suffering because councils lack experienced staff.’
‘Agency staff often receive lower wages than the nationally-agreed frameworks for the sector.’
The LGA said £2bn represented less then 10% of council spending on staff and filled a skills gap.
A spokesman said: ‘Often, consultants will have to be employed for highly-complex short-term projects, such as IT upgrades, which not only have a specific timeline which cuts
the need for permanent staff but also needs highly-specialised and skilled staff to deliver these projects.
‘The use of agency staff is a temporary solution to the problems of a shortage of applicants. It is more costly in the long run, but for plugging short-term gaps it is a necessity.’
Sir Paul Beresford, a Conservative member of the Commons communities select committee, said councils with no overall control, such as Birmingham, relied on external advice.
‘If you’re in the position that Birmingham is in, then you may need consultants to provide fresh ideas and get your programme through embedded opposition to reforms at authorities lacking firm political direction.’
Sanjay Gohil, director of flexible resourcing at SOLACE, said: ‘Local authorities continue to spend on non-permanent staff, but are much more savvy in doing so. Within senior level interim posts, I have certainly noticed authorities are more prudent on who they recruit, and for what reason.
‘In most cases, while there is a budgeted cost in bringing in interims, the savings and changes that are made inevitably add real value to the organisation.’
Data collated by Unison, obtained by The MJ, shows councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland spent an estimated £1.4bn on agency staff in 2007/08, and £660m on consultants.
That represents a small decrease in agency spending, but a rise in expenditure on consultants, despite warnings from ministers to clamp down on external advice.
Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, said: ‘Some of this spending is understandable, but a total of £2bn is shocking, and reflects the fact that some councils are not thinking strategically.’
Unison is concerned spending on consultants is rising, and shortages of teaching, staff, waste disposal and social services staff forces many councils to rely heavily on temporary staff for key services.
Problems are acute in London, where high staff turnover forces boroughs to use temps. Lambeth LBC, for example, spent £34m on agency staff.
Ms Wakefield said: ‘We’ve known about these recruitment issues for years… yet little has been done to address the problem, and service quality is suffering because councils lack experienced staff.’
‘Agency staff often receive lower wages than the nationally-agreed frameworks for the sector.’
The LGA said £2bn represented less then 10% of council spending on staff and filled a skills gap.
A spokesman said: ‘Often, consultants will have to be employed for highly-complex short-term projects, such as IT upgrades, which not only have a specific timeline which cuts
the need for permanent staff but also needs highly-specialised and skilled staff to deliver these projects.
‘The use of agency staff is a temporary solution to the problems of a shortage of applicants. It is more costly in the long run, but for plugging short-term gaps it is a necessity.’
Sir Paul Beresford, a Conservative member of the Commons communities select committee, said councils with no overall control, such as Birmingham, relied on external advice.
‘If you’re in the position that Birmingham is in, then you may need consultants to provide fresh ideas and get your programme through embedded opposition to reforms at authorities lacking firm political direction.’
Sanjay Gohil, director of flexible resourcing at SOLACE, said: ‘Local authorities continue to spend on non-permanent staff, but are much more savvy in doing so. Within senior level interim posts, I have certainly noticed authorities are more prudent on who they recruit, and for what reason.
‘In most cases, while there is a budgeted cost in bringing in interims, the savings and changes that are made inevitably add real value to the organisation.’
What councils spend
Class Consultants Agency
Districts £109,318,000 £137,929,445
Counties £203,176,143 £264,330,050
Mets £87,152,210 £189,007,580
London £113,799,714 £558,976,000
Wales £26,631,000 £50,053,140
Unitaries £110,415,129 £210,121,922
Northern Ireland £13,951,600 £12,717,470
Total £664,443,800 £1,423,135,610
Source: Unison, 2008. Extrapolated from FOI responses provided by 63% of councils.
Districts £109,318,000 £137,929,445
Counties £203,176,143 £264,330,050
Mets £87,152,210 £189,007,580
London £113,799,714 £558,976,000
Wales £26,631,000 £50,053,140
Unitaries £110,415,129 £210,121,922
Northern Ireland £13,951,600 £12,717,470
Total £664,443,800 £1,423,135,610
Source: Unison, 2008. Extrapolated from FOI responses provided by 63% of councils.
