Council in shocking admission it doesn't know how much it spent on fees to agencies

Rochdale Borough Council

Following the revelation that Rochdale Borough Council continues to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on temporary staff, Rochdale Online asked the Council how much it paid in fees to agencies for those staff in the first three months of this year.

In a shocking admission, a Council spokesperson said: "We changed our managed service provider at the end of January and we are unable to provide the total agency fee for January."

In the first three months of this year, the Council spent £833,514.65 on agency staff - and the fee paid to the agency for February and March alone was a whopping £52,271.01.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/111053/cashstrapped-council-spending-hundreds-of-thousands-of-pounds-on-temps

David Wilcock, the council’s acting director of resources, previously said: “We only use agency staff when it is absolutely necessary for things like maternity leave, staff absence, short-term projects and where we need people so that we can continue delivering vital services."

However, Rochdale Online can reveal that 63 agency staff have worked for the Council for over a year, and of those 29 between one and two years, 12 for between two and three years, 11 between three and four years, seven between four and five years, and four agency staff have been at the Council for over five years.

We also asked the Council how many agency staff had previously been employed by the Council. The Council claimed not to know, responding: "We do not hold data on agency staff that have previously been employed by Rochdale Borough Council."