Cash-strapped Liverpool City Council is forking out nearly £100,000 extra of taxpayer cash each month on interim positions within its senior leadership team.
The city council, which is still recovering from a damning inspection report last year has also seen a number of high profile departures in recent times. Earlier this year chief executive Tony Reeves dramatically quit the council and just a couple of months earlier his deputy and finance chief Mel Creighton left her role.
Last year, the council's former regeneration chief Nick Kavanagh was dismissed following his arrest as part of a corruption investigation led by Merseyside Police and earlier this year the council's assistant director for investment and development Claire Slinger also departed.
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The council, which currently has a team of government commissioners in place following that damning inspection last year, has struggled to fill senior positions on a full-time basis. The local authority currently has an interim chief executive in Theresa Grant - although she is paid directly by the council and not through an agency - and an interim city director in Mark Bourgeois as well as other interim figures within that senior team.
Figures seen by the ECHO show that these interim roles are costing the council a huge amount more than they would be paying for full-time positions in terms of daily rates and agency fees.
In the Finance and Resources directorate, there are currently three interim figures which is costing the council £55,560 each month including agency costs. This is £29,050 more than the vacancy budget allocated for the directorate.
In the office of the Chief Executive, there are currently two interim positions - including interim chief executive Theresa Grant. The total monthly cost for these positions - including agency fees - is £41,940 and this is £20,238 more than is budgeted within that directorate.
Finally, within the City Development directorate, three senior interim positions are costing the council £72,420 each month. This figure is £34,189 higher than the vacancy budget for the department.
Overall the figures show that the costs of interim positions within the council's senior leadership team - along with agency fees - are currently at £204,748 each month. This is £96,608 per month higher than the vacancy budgets for the same positions if they were filled on a full-time basis.
Reacting to the figures, opposition leader and Lib Dem boss Richard Kemp said: "This appalling increased spending shows the absolute need to get our own staff in place. We need people who want to invest their time and efforts in building a new Liverpool.
"All this is in addition to the £2 million in Commissioners costs and other things in the Strategic Improvement Programme. It also ignores a huge cost of consultants hired to totally overhaul our systems. When Labour start complaining about the precarious problems with Liverpool's finances, they need to look in a mirror first and blame themselves".
In response, Mayor Joanne Anderson argued that all councils are struggling to fill positions at present. In a statement she said: "We want a council that functions and unfortunately the urgent need to add additional expertise and capacity across the council comes at a cost. We are far from unique in this respect, and Naomi Walsh the Head of Workforce at the LGA has said 'that over half of council leaders say that workforce capacity issues are likely to affect their councils' ability to deliver services in the coming months'.
"As an organisation we are actively working to reduce the number of interims across the council to decrease costs and bring stability to the organisation. A report to full Council this evening includes an updating of the Pay Policy Statement which will assist with this, and yesterday I chaired an appointments panel which authorised the Chief Executive to recruit permanent candidates to a number of senior posts. I am confident that these positives steps, and the council’s wider improvement journey, will continue to contribute to our progression."
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