Concerns as North unitary spends huge sums with recruitment agencies to plug its workforce gap
NN Journal has discovered how much the council has spent with ad hoc recruitment agencies
North Northamptonshire Council is spending well over half a million pounds each month to cover the huge numbers of staff vacancies.
Data which will go before the authority’s scrutiny commission tonight shows the authority spent £484,000 with its contracted recruitment agency OPUS in April and NN Journal has discovered the authority is also spending similarly big sums each month with off contract recruitment firms.
The financial data for April has not been published on the council's website as yet, but the latest available data for February showed the authority had around £417,000 with more than a dozen agencies to try and bulk up its workforce. This money is additional to the monthly spend with OPUS.
The authority had 940 vacancies in April as experienced staff have been leaving the authority over recent months. The adults, communities and wellbeing directorate has the most vacancies at 460, and 249 of these are in housing. £200,000 of the OPUS agency spend is to cover shortages in this directorate.
We reported last week on the issues with a large backlog of housing repairs and there is also a major issue with people having to wait many months even to be assessed for housing eligibility.
The leader of the Labour opposition John McGhee says the authority is in danger of following in the footsteps of its notorious predecessor county council.
He said:
“We are in danger of having exactly what happened at Northamptonshire County Council.
“The cost of agency staff is spiralling. By using agency staff it doesn't give you the staff who are dedicated when they are in a full time job. I’m not saying that agency staff are not dedicated - but they have not got that sense of belonging. The spend on agency staff is going in the wrong direction.
“If you treat your staff well they will stay with you. But they are not giving staff the respect and care they deserve. We have seen that with so many staff moving on in the first year. I know that some staff have moved to other authorities because they did not feel looked after. We need to be able to pay people the right wages for the jobs they do.
“I know some of the staff who used to work in the former councils of Kettering and Corby who are saying: ‘I just don’t feel welcome here. We are having too much pressure on us.’ They say they will end up ill if they carry on working the way they have been doing.
“We have lost some very good staff.”
The authority has a 12 per cent sickness rate for April, with the authority reporting that the most common reason given for sickness is ‘mental wellbeing’, with staff being unable to work due to anxiety and depression.
Cllr McGhee said:
“We are in charge of public health, but we are putting too much pressure on our own staff - it shouldn’t be happening.
“When we had the former county council this is exactly what happened. They laid off all the experienced staff and put too much pressure on newer staff. We are going down this very same road and if they don't sort it out soon we will end up being a failing council.
“Ultimately responsibility lies with the politicians who are setting the direction.
“I honestly hope they can turn it around quickly. For the sake of the staff and for the residents who deserve good services.”
NN Journal contacted Council Leader Jason Smithers but did not get a reply.
UNISON East Midlands regional organiser Cathy Symes said the authority needs to conduct robust exit interviews to find out why staff are choosing to leave.
She said:
“UNISON continues to be deeply concerned at the high levels of vacancies at North Northants Council and the stress placed on staff in keeping council services going. The low pay of council staff is a significant problem when hardworking and loyal staff are unable to meet the cost of rising food and fuel prices. There is a crisis in recruitment in local government which appears to be aggravated in North Northants Council.
“Clearly the money currently being paid to agency staff would be better paying wages that rewarded and retained existing staff and recruited permanent members of staff. We also know that all councils face a substantial funding gap, due to years of austerity along with the impact of Covid and the current increases in prices.
“UNISON wants North Northants Council to make urgent representations to the UK Government for additional funding to meet the National pay claims of staff. If North Northants council wants to show its support for its own employees, they need to be demanding more money from Westminster.”
More timely reporting from NNJ. It's pretty obvious, and has been for quite a while, that far from 'risking being a failed council', the north unitary is just that already ... but the people running it have just voted to pay themselves more! You couldn't make it up. The words 'noses' and 'troughs' seem totally justified.
During my time working as an estate manager I found eventually that direct employment of cleaners and catering staff paid dividends.
They have a sense of ownership of their workplace.
There is of course a considerable cost reduction in staffing compared to farming the work out to agencies or contractors.
However the admin burden is considerable but HR & Payroll will be in place already, the direct management will inevitably be in place with the in-house department still extant since offloading the original staff decades ago.
I would say that sickness benefits which lingers from the days of the rainbow pack is too generous.
I employed an ex council worker once to find them coaching my direct staff on how to maximise time off ‘sick’ i.e. come in at 08:00 go sick immediately. That day you go sick from work doesn’t count, take three days call in on day three to say you’ll be in the next day.
So if you start the process on Tuesday you can have Tuesday to Monday morning off without penalty or pay effect.
Needless to say the employee left soon after.
Poor leadership & lazy management are the blight of any organisation. But worse is disdain for the lower scaled (poorly paid) employees these are the foundation upon which any organisation is built.
Finally the ultimate sanction is always in the hands of the employees if you treat them poorly they simply leave.