Council worker paid £28k overtime in 15 months

Five employees received more than £20,000 in overtime payments

Concerns have been raised about a council's staffing levels after it was revealed an employee was paid more than £28,000 in overtime during a period of 15 months.

An audit for Powys County Council found it spent £2.84m on overtime in that time, of which £2.4m was spent in the 2023/24 financial year – about 1% of the council's wage bill.

The council "did not operate under a single overtime policy" meaning the rules were "fragmented and inconsistently applied across the board", said Kevin Price, principal auditor for South West Audit Partnership (SWAP).

Council head of workforce Paul Bradshaw said he was "reassured" of the 1% figure, adding other councils would report similar overtime payments.

The report revealed five employees received more than £20,000 in overtime payments, 39 received between £10,000 and £20,000 and 92 between £5,000 and £10,000.

Mr Price told a council committee the audit found the overtime process was "often informal and lacked proper documentation".

He added the fact that a large number of employees received "substantial" overtime payments suggested "possible staffing pressures and raised concerns on the impact of long working hours on employee wellbeing".

Pete Lewington, a Conservative councillor, said he was "pleased to see the council's fraud team will be reviewing this as it doesn't seem quite right to me".

"As well as getting the controls framework correct and operational around this, what is the plan to reduce this unacceptably high level of overtime?" he asked.

John Brautigam, committee vice chairman, questioned whether the report highlighted a skill shortage in the council workforce.

"In my experience it causes those that have the skills to work extraordinarily long hours," he said.

Mr Bradshaw, the council's head of workforce and organisational development, said flexibility to allow overtime had to be built into organisation structures to deal with work demands.

He added other councils would report similar amounts of overtime payments.

"I would expect to see one per cent overtime possibly more, so I was reassured," he said.

He added that a new computer dashboard was being installed that would allow senior staff to see overtime information and "drill down" into why it was needed.