Wokingham Borough Council has spent more than £3 million on temporary and agency staff this financial year, a new report reveals.
It spent a total of £3.19 million on workers outside of the council in the first two quarters of this financial year.
But the authority said agency spending is decreasing in comparison with figures last year – with £862,000 less spent this year compared to the same time last year.
An executive report for Wokingham Borough Council’s personnel board said costs reflect ‘national difficulties in recruiting permanent staff in roles such as social workers, occupational therapists and mental health practitioners.
There were 88 agency workers employed by the council at the end of quarter one, while there were 83 at the end of quarter two of this financial year.
Agency workers are required to ‘ensure consistent, safe provision of services’ and to ‘cover time-limited’ projects and initiatives within the authority. This includes adult social care and children’s services, which continues to be the greatest pressures on the council’s budget.
Within children’s services, the council said: “We are responding creatively to these challenges by making early offers to undergraduates, recruiting trainees and growing our own social work workforce.”
A ‘steering group’ has also been created to look at social work recruitment in comparison with other unitary authorities in Berkshire.
Agency workers have further been used to fill vacancies in what WBC said are ‘hard to recruit roles’, such as legal and procurement professionals.
It comes as workforce cuts are being implemented at WBC to help save some £28 million over the next three years.
The authority – like many others across the country – faces ‘unprecedented financial challenges’ after overspending by £1.83 million last year.
An executive report in October warned that proposed cost-cutting measures ‘may be seen as challenging or even contentious’.This includes a 10% workforce reduction by April 2026. WBC has already implemented cuts last year which saved £3.36 million, according to the report.
Wokingham Borough Council remains the lowest funded unitary authority per head in the country.
The council said funding issues have been worsened by inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic, and greater demand on social care and special educational needs provision,
Wokingham’s MP Clive Jones, who is the former leader of the council, has long-called for the funding model for councils to be changed by central government.
Wokingham Borough Council’s personnel board will consider the report at a meeting tomorrow, Monday, December 16.
