Haringey spending over £100,000 per day on agency staff

Figures from a report to Haringey Council’s cabinet has revealed that the council is spending £45 million per year on temporary agency staff - breaking down as over £100,000 every day.
 
What’s more, enquiries by the Liberal Democrats show that 70 “temporary” members of staff have been employed by the council for over 3 years, and in one case a member of agency staff has been employed for 11 years!
 
The council has blamed national staff shortages on its issues, but the Cabinet Member for Finance admitted at a meeting in October that Haringey is in a worse position than other similar (‘benchmark’) councils. Agency staff are more expensive that permanent staff, and Cabinet agreed at the October meeting to spend an additional £20 million in a contract with Matrix, who supply them with temporary staff.
 
Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison (LD-Crouch End), Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council, said:
“Haringey’s reliance on expensive agency staff is a criminal waste of taxpayers’ money. A recent national staffing crisis can’t explain employing ‘temporary’ members of staff for 11 years, and the Labour cabinet member has admitted they are spending more than other councils - meaning less value for money for our residents. This isn’t good enough, and Haringey must get to the bottom of their poor performance and rectify things quickly.”