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25
Aug
Council explains why its agency workers cost more than PM’s salary
North Yorkshire Council has revealed why it spends more on agency workers than the Prime Minister’s salary.
The Stray Ferret reported this month that the council spent £6.8 million on 38 full-time equivalent agency workers in 2024-25.
That means each agency worker cost on average £179,281 — more than Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s salary of £174,038.
Asked to explain why its agency costs were so high, the council said its overall costs on agency workers were “significantly less than most other comparable councils”.
It said:
The council is committed to direct employment and only uses agency workers where there is a short-term emergency requirement, where work cannot be undertaken directly or where recruitment has temporarily failed.
Whilst spending £6.8 million on agency workers is a large sum, the council spends significantly less than most other comparable councils, and agency workers are less than one per cent of its workforce.
Out of the £6.8 million spend, £3.8 million is attributed to assessments or programmes. Therefore, the remaining £3 million covers the hourly payments of the 38 full-time equivalents. Whilst this is an average of £79,000 per agency worker, this includes all third-party agency margins, statutory holiday, tax and expenses.
Asked what “assessments or programmes” referred to, the council said it was issues such as mental health assessments, which are conducted independently of the council.
Agency workers require identity and right-to-work checks, health and safety risk assessments, and compliance training, such as DBS checks or health screenings, before they can begin.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance report, Town Hall Sickness, which was published on August 14, contained data on agency workers from all local authorities.
One of the report’s key findings was that North Yorkshire Council’s average agency spend of £179,281 per full-time equivalent was six times higher than the national average of £29,133.
The right-wing pressure group, which campaigns for lower taxes, said councils often blamed government funding cuts for rising council tax bills, but claimed its report highlighted how “too little attention has been paid to inefficiencies within their own operations”.
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