War of words over council spending on agency staff

Councillor Ronan Browne, leader of the opposition Conservative group, asked questions about the issue at the latest full council meeting and described the increase – from £330,000 in 2022/23 to £689,000 in 2023/24 – as ‘absolutely remarkable’.

And a statement released by the Tory group after the meeting voiced concerns over costs that ‘we are seeing spiral out of control’ despite the ruling group claiming they would reduce over-spending when they took over last year.

But after the meeting, council leader, Councillor Pip Allnatt, a Labour representative, hit back, commenting: “I reject councillor Browne’s assertions.

"This is just sour grapes from a man who was once an employee of the council.

"He should stop playing party politics with practical problems and the career ambitions of our employees.”

Councillor Sarah Cox, cabinet portfolio holder for finance, explained at the meeting that the increased cost of agency staff had happened mainly due to the need to bring in people temporarily with sufficient expertise to fill vacant senior posts for the monitoring officer and a number on the legal services team. There was also a shared senior post with Harborough Council which needed to be funded.

Councillor Cox told the meeting: “Salaries make up the largest part of the service we deliver as a council.

"The total cost of salaries is £8million a year and the use of agency staff for 2023/24 is only eight per cent of that so I didn’t see this as an immediate risk.”

The council released a statement in reply to the misgivings voiced by the Tory group.

It states: “While agency costs have fluctuated over recent years, they have always remained under control and within budgets, and are projected to fall in 2024/25 to levels below those seen at points under the previous council.

"The council will continue to use temporary resources and external expertise where it considers it necessary and in the council’s best interests to do so.

“More generally, the council delivered an overall underspend of £190k against its general fund budget in 2023/24, demonstrating that the council’s resources continue to be managed effectively and in the right way."

However, the Conservative group remains unimpressed with the spending on agency staff costs by the authority.

Their statement adds: “The Melton Borough Council Labour and Independent Administration came into power claiming they would reduce such costs, but we are seeing these spiral out of control.

"This is an inefficient use of taxpayers’ money at a time when the government is reducing public expenditure.

"We would call on the administration to look at an efficiency review and retention of staff review which had been in place prior to May 2023 but now seems abandoned.

"Staff retention is key to the stabilisation of any organisation and it is concerning the amount of costs being spent on temporary staff at present with no guarantee these costs will reduce in the future.”