AGENCY staff have cost Dorset County Council £16,000 per day as the bill continues to rise.

Figures to be presented to the staffing committee reveal that the spend on agency staff has increased from £877,900 in the first quarter of the financial year 2013/14 to £1,506,200 in the same period this year.

The most recent figure means Dorset County Council spent £16,551 every day from April to June this year on agency staff.

Janet Dover, leader of the Lib Dems on the county council, said the 'ongoing rising costs' of agency staff are 'of extreme concern'.

She added: "It is not justifiable and I do not think the public will feel this is a good use of taxpayers money. I will be asking very searching questions of the chief executive and the service leaders."

A spokesperson for the Unison Dorset county branch office said: "This increase in agency staffing is again hugely concerning and we feel it is probably symptomatic of the extremely difficult place in which this local authority and its staff find themselves.

"This increase in agency staffing comes at a time when the authority continues to make swathing cuts."

It is not the first time the county council has come under fire for its spiralling agency staff bill.

In 2014 the Dorset Echo revealed £11,000 was being spent on agency staff each day – something critics described as ‘an enormous amount of money’.

And in 2012 the council vowed to look at agency staff spend when it was revealed one temporary worker was being paid more than the chief executive.

A report to be put before councillors on October 1 states increases to agency staff have ‘predominantly’ been within children’s services and adult and community services.

Around one in seven children’s social workers in Dorset are agency staff.

The report states: “The ongoing recruitment issues mean that agency spend remains significant, accounting for 14 per cent of the social work team. Agency staff are used to cover vacancies, maternity leave, longer term sickness and to reduce high caseloads. Plans are now in place to recruit new social workers.”

In the adult services department, most agency staff are used for short notice, residential home shifts.

The report adds: “Residential homes must meet an agreed quota of staff on duty within the terms of their CQC registration, and it is essential they are able to engage agency staff within short timescales to ensure this quota can continue to be met in the case of staff absences.”

 

THE report also reveals the cost to the county council of consultancy fees.

In the first quarter of this financial year the figure was £377,900. While this is an increase from the same period last year of £240,200, the figure is almost half that of the previous financial period, quarter four of 2014/15, when consultancy spend was £686,500.