Agenda item

The Lead Councillor for Resources introduced the report submitted to the Committee.  He drew attention to the off contract spend on agency staff, the reduction in expenditure on consultants (excluding consultancy spend on corporate projects), and the definition of consultancy expenditure used within the Council and the report. 

The Director of Resources indicated that the report submitted to the Committee provided an update on matters considered by the Committee in October 2020.  She confirmed the implementation of more robust governance arrangements for projects and programmes and tighter procurement rules.  The Committee was advised of difficulties recruiting staff and a reliance on agency staff to fill posts. 

The Director of Resources advised that the reported increased figures on expenditure for consultants were due to a number of capital projects entering the implementation stage and miscoding of construction costs and professional fees.  She suggested improvements to future reports to the Committee could include a tighter definition of consultancy costs and separate reporting of major project costs. 

In reply to a question about the public’s likely perception of the Council’s spending on capital projects and its reduced spending on Council services, the Lead Councillor for Resources referred to the need to balance the revenue budget and the Council’s ability to fund capital projects by borrowing or through grants. 

A member of the Committee asked about the increase in revenue spending on agency staff and the Director of Resources advised of difficulties recruiting permanent staff.

A member queried the Council’s shortage of planning services staff.  In response, the Director of Service Delivery advised that additional agency staff had been recruited to improve the situation.  He confirmed that such issues were common in local authorities due to an increase in planning applications. 

In reply to a question about the value for money of the Corporate Temporary Staffing contract with Comensura, the Director for Resources advised that Comensura had been commissioned following a procurement process that included a benchmarking of agency fees. 

A member of the Committee proposed that future reporting of the Council’s spend on consultants should include the outcomes expected and those actually delivered.  The Director of Resources suggested that the purpose of the report to the Committee might be to identify the use of consultancy and agency staff for roles where permanent Council staff should be used.

Members discussed a leaflet produced by a political party and distributed within the Borough which highlighted the increased total spend on consultants by the Council.  Members of the Committee and the Lead Councillor for Resources discussed the merit in the Committee noting any misrepresentations in such a publication.  At the request of the Chair, to avoid a perceived conflict of interest the Vice-Chair chaired the conclusion of the Committee’s discussion about the claims within the leaflet concerning Council spending.  During this discussion, the Director of Resources drew attention to section 3.2 of the report submitted to the Committee and the headline increases in agency workers spend and consultants spend compared to the previous year.  With reference to the total spend on consultants, members of the Committee noted that the amalgamation of revenue and capital spending, such as occurred within section 3.2 of the report submitted to the Committee, was misleading and could lead to misinterpretations. 

RESOLVED:  (I) That the Senior Specialist Procurement and her team be commended for the improvements achieved.

(II) That the 2020/21 spend position and the update on the recommendations which have been implemented since be noted.

(III)  That the next report to the Committee on progress with agency workers spend and consultant spend be scheduled for the next financial year.

At the conclusion of the item, the Chair resumed chairing the meeting.