An annual budget of £1.1million is anticipated to pay for agency staff to cover council roles for the year.
Thanet council’s supplier spend data for 2023 – recording payments of £500 and above – show agency staff costs of:
January-March £229,418
April-June £339,118
July-Sept No agency staff payments (of £500 and over) listed for this period
October-December Data not yet uploaded to the TDC website
Councillors at a scrutiny meeting this evening (January 16) will discuss the need to renew the agency staff contract “to ensure that operational services can continue to be uninterrupted.”
A report to councillors will say: “To provide a consistent staffing provision in its frontline services, the council requires a contracted provider for temporary staff.
“This need is most prevalent in the cleansing department. The current contract, with provider HRGO, expired in April 2023, at which point the option to extend for an additional year was exercised. This extension expires on 12 April 2024.
“Cabinet has requested a report into the use of temporary staff, which will be forthcoming.”
Based on current spend, Thanet council says an annual budget of £1.1million is required.
Agency staff are used across departments, particularly to cover staff sickness, maternity leave, annual leave or other absences.
However, the cover is vital for cleansing roles. A council document states: “The cleansing service would not be able to function properly without the cover and flexibility offered by temporary/agency staff. So, it is imperative that a compliant contract is in place to have access to short term staff.
“Unpredictable fluctuations in attendance will need to be covered by temporary workers. Access to temporary staff is also critical to ensuring that seasonal services such as beach cleaning in the summer is fully staffed without impacting the standard service.
“The manual nature of the cleansing service means that only a very small amount of the work can be undertaken to a satisfactory standard with a reduced headcount. Not having the ability to call on staff to fill unexpected spaces in the daily deployment would have a negative impact on standards.
“Having to deliver the service without the full quota of staff would initially lead to street cleansing services being withdrawn for the day – to lessen the impact upon collections – but would of course have a detrimental impact on how many roads are swept and litter bins emptied.
“The alternative of having additional TDC employees to cover these gaps would not be financially viable as there would be a considerable amount of time where they are surplus to operational needs.
“The use of agency staff is monitored closely and can be controlled with efficient management of sickness and absenteeism.”
HRGO is a provider for many of the agency staff roles and covers:
- Cleansing
- Crematorium
- Open Spaces
- Port and Harbour
- Housing
- Parking
- Facilities
- Public Realm
Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel will scrutinise the proposal to renew the contract.
The proposal will then be discussed by Cabinet members on January 25.
