News from Westminster Labour

Westminster Tories spend £15 million a year on temporary staff

Westminster City Council spends over £15 million a year on temporary contact staff, including 26 people who are costing the Council over £100,000 a year, according to information uncovered by Labour Councillors. The highest paid temporary employee is a Project Manager in the Children’s Services Department who is costing Council Tax payers over £185,000 a year, including a 25 percent fee to the agency who supplied the temporary worker.

Other key findings from the Labour Group investigation show that:

* Over £5 million a year is spent on temporary staff by the Council’s central administration – Finance, Communications and Worksmart – including two Project Managers costing over £169,000 and over £163,000 a year and three Project Managers costing over £143,000 a year each. There are 16 temporary staff in the central administration costing over £100,000 a year
* Temporary staff in the Children’s Services cost £4.3 million a year, including 5 temporary staff costing over £100,000 a year
* Temporary staff in the Parking service cost £1.4 million a year, including 2 temporary staff costing over £100,000 a year
* Temporary staff in the Adults Services Department cost £2.4 million a year, including 3 temporary staff costing over £100,000 a year
* Temporary staff in the Planning and Transport Departments cost over £1.5 million a year, none of whom cost more than £100,000 a year

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group said:

“It is completely unacceptable for the Council to waste such huge sums of money on temporary staff when over 400 permanent staff are being made redundant by the Council. How can the Conservatives possibly justify paying over £185,000 for a temporary project manager? This is another example of the waste and inefficiency at the heart of the Conservative run Council which has already lost £17 million in now-failed Icelandic banks. Council spending is out of control. Public money is being spread around like confetti. There can be no excuses for this waste of public money. How on earth can it make sense to spend these vast sums of public money on temporary staff? We are are calling for a full inquiry as a matter of urgency.”

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• Residents pick up £1m bill for Westminster's parking fiasco - 19 January 2012