Southwark Council spent £25m on agency staff and consultants in 12 months as ‘over-reliance’ criticized

A south London council has been accused of “relying too heavily” on agency staff and consultants after it found it paid almost £25m for outsourcing last year. Labour-led Southwark Council paid £23.1m for agency workers and a further £1.7m for external consultants in 2023/24, compared to a total of £21.8m in the previous financial year – and an increase of £3m.

Rachel Bentley, deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats in Southwark, said the council’s reliance on agency staff was wasteful and had to stop. Cllr Bentley, who is the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said: “It is a total false economy to outsource workforce and strategy to temporary workers and consultants.

“These costs continue to rise, while the council could grow a workforce of dedicated and talented officers here in Southwark. It is about looking at the council’s long-term ability to deliver for residents. Labor’s habit of over-relying on external agencies and consultants is poor value for money and must end.”

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The Southwark Lib Dems are calling on the council to launch a so-called ‘temp to permanent’ scheme, whereby staff on temporary contracts are gradually transferred to permanent contracts, in a bid to reduce outsourcing.

A council spokesman said: “The total budget for running Southwark Council is in excess of £1 billion and its staff are responsible for serving over 315,000 residents, managing 54,000 properties, supporting the most vulnerable in society and helping young people, families and businesses to thrive. These important duties, the council employs 5,209 workers on a permanent or temporary basis, with 865 being agency workers.

“We have a number of important change programs to help us improve our services while delivering better value for money for council tax payers and, like many large organisations, we use consultants and agency staff on a temporary basis to to achieve this. Where outsourcing has a positive impact on residents, we will and have brought key functions and services back under council control, for example our leisure centers in June 2023.”

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