Green councillors have been concerned, at a time when children’s centres and swimming pools are being closed and homelessness support services are being cut, about the amount of money being spent by Reading Council on agency staff.
I asked about this at a council meeting last year and the response I got seemed to show that the spend on agency staff was coming down – as permanent staff were being recruited. Question and answer towards the bottom of this PDF: http://www.reading.gov.uk/media/8045/Item-7/pdf/171127questions.pdf
However, the council didn’t provide me with an end of year forecast and when I asked for an update recently I was shocked to see the agency spend go up massively – see the bottom of this post for the figures which includes all staff covering permanent roles including senior managers.
The Green Party thinks the council needs to have a greater focus on recruiting permanent staff. As well as saving the council money, increasing the amount of permanent staff will stabilise the council which is teetering on a financial cliff edge, help the council retain important skills and boost morale.
We care about Reading and will keep working to improve it. Why not join and help us make a difference on issues like these? http://greenparty.org.uk/join
Year | Reading Council agency spend |
2015-16 | £9.7 million |
2016-17 | £12.9 million |
2017-18 (to date) | £12 million |
2017-18 (forecast to end of year) | £14.4 million |
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