Agenda item

To receive a report on Temporary Agency Staffing Procurement.

Please note that this report will follow as an agenda supplement.

The Chairman noted that in Agenda Supplement 1, was a report asking for Cabinet to:

·       Approve the commissioning of a new contract for Temporary Agency Staffing;

·       Delegate authority to deal with all matters relating to the Contract to the Director of HR&OD in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members; and

·       Approve a Contract Term of three years with the option to extend for a further twelve months, with the associated costs.

Cllr Mel Jacob, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Engagement, and Corporate Services introduced the report with it outlined that temporary agency staff were essential for providing the services of the Council. It was outlined that such agency staff were used to bridge gaps in hard to fill roles with ongoing recruitment challenges and that this tended to be in adult social care and education. It was stated that the current contract had ran for three years and had been extended to September 2025, when a new contract would need to be in place.

The Committee discussed the report with further clarity provided on the current contract that due to delays in going out to procurement, the current provider was content to extend the current contract on a monthly basis at the same rate of pay until procurement was complete. It was also outlined that there was no anticipated change in cost caused by the extensions. Clarity was also provided regarding Oracle ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning System), which would make procurement easier for the Council with data able to be drawn on such sets as head counts.

As discussion took place regarding IR35, which reference had been made to in the Executive Summary of the report, with it noted that historically this had enabled a lot of self-employed people working in permanent roles to avoid tax. It was outlined that the Council was compliant with IR35 and that a checklist was completed in order to demonstrate such compliance.

It was questioned whether training currently employed Council staff for such roles could be conducted to save money, to which it was noted that the Council was constantly trying to be innovative with succession planning and a lot of work takes place with services in order to reduce costs. Assurance was also provided that the preference of the Council was to have permanent staff and to only use agency staff when there was a statutory responsibility to be delivered in hard to fill roles. It was also outlined that the Council has strong flexible working policies in place in order to attract staff.

The impact of agency procurement on the Council budget was discussed, with clarity provided that agency staff are funded within services with the individual services bearing the responsibility to manage the respective finances and implications. Mitigations are therefore expected at a service level. Clarity was also sought on the Council’s commitment to reducing reliance on agency staff, to which it was stated that it was complex due to the need for agency procurement fluctuating and that every month a report was scrutinised to consider the agency workers in place, which had resulted in agency costs dropping.

Further detail was requested regarding the financial impact of agency procurement, with it noted that the £5million a year figure cited in the report was included as worst-case scenario depiction and that work was being conducted to bring the cost down, with Wiltshire Council performing favourably in this area compared to neighbouring peers. The benefits of agency staff were cited including the ability to have a flexible workforce with shorter notice periods and being able to bridge temporary gaps rather than being stuck with staff on permanent contracts after resolving short term issues.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed:

1. To note the report to Cabinet on 10 June 2025 asking it to:

a)    Approve the commissioning of a new contract for Temporary Agency Staffing;

b)    Delegate authority to deal with all matters relating to the Contract to the Director of HR&OD in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members; and

c)    Approve a Contract Term of three years with the option to extend for a further twelve months, with the associated costs.

2. To note that the Chair of the Committee will report a summary of the Committee’s discussions at Cabinet’s meeting on 10 June 2025.