North West Councils Face Rising Agency Costs Due to Staffing Crisis

Councils in the North West are using more agency workers. This costs more than hiring permanent staff. BBC research looked into council spending. They found big increases in payments to agencies. Some councils’ payments increased sevenfold in five years. Social care staffing is a large part of this spending.

The Local Government Information Unit sees a staffing crisis. Councils depend heavily on agency staff now. Lancashire County Council spent £32.7m last year. This is up about 25% from five years prior. Manchester City Council spent £29.2m, almost double what it was five years ago. They said social care is over half of the agency costs.

Oldham’s spending tripled, reaching £20.1m over the last five years. Council deputy leader Adbul Jabbar cited inflation and transferring services in-house. Blackburn with Darwen saw a tenfold increase, from £290,003 to £3.1m. They are reviewing recruitment strategies to fix it.

Sefton’s spending rose from £2.1m to £15.5m. This money went to children’s services recruitment, following a bad Ofsted rating in 2022. Liverpool City Council spent £15.6m, the same as in 2019. They used agency staff during management changes and seek permanent staff to reduce these costs.

Cheshire East Council spent £16.5m, a 70% increase in five years. They face recruitment issues, including social workers. Senior management roles also use agency staff. Cheshire West and Chester spent £8.5m, with social care accounting for much of their spending.

Jonathan Carr-West discussed rising costs for councils. He sees an intense local government workforce crisis. Getting staff is hard, especially in adult social care. Councils use agency staff to fill service gaps because they cannot run deficits each year. So, they use short-term fixes that cost more later, as they can’t afford full-time staff long-term.