Slough: Cash-strapped council spends millions on agency staff

The price tag on the agency workforce at Slough Borough Council is estimated at £18m over the next year

A debt-ridden local authority is still spending millions on temporary workers despite promises to cut back, it has been revealed.

Slough Borough Council is forecasting a bill of up to £18m on agency staff between 2022 and 2023, £3m more than the previous year.

Between July and September alone, it spent £4.8m on temporary workers to fill vacant posts and specialist roles.

The council said it was committed to reducing the agency spend.

The local authority, which effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2021, is trying to claw back £760m of debt and sell £600m of assets.

A report to the council's employment and appeals committee said it would continue to "recruit to the permanent positions in particular finance, IT and reablement services".

"We hope to ensure successful recruitment campaigns for the above hard to recruit positions which would assist in reducing the estimated forecast," the report said.

Speaking at the meeting in December, Dipak Mistry, employee relations and policy manager, explained: "A lot of the roles where we had high expenditure was that we've got some specialist roles.

"These are skills that Slough Borough Council do not have and they will come at a premium."

The council said through restructuring it had reduced its agency assignments by 99 positions between July and September, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Mistry said once permanent staff were in post, the agency spending total would be revised.

Simultaneously, the council said 62 permanent employees had left the organisation for reasons such as dismissal, resignations, or retirement.

The council is also planning to move its workforce out of the headquarters it bought for £39m four years ago.