BRACKNELL STRUGGLES TO CONTAIN WAGE COSTS

8.29.02pm GMT Wed 19th Nov 2008

Council wage bill soars by 10% as staff numbers continue to rise

Between 2005/6 and 2007/8 the total annual wage bill for Bracknell Forest Borough Council rose from £93.3m to £102.8m, a rise of 10.2%. During this time the number of direct staff employed grew from 4,416 to 4,580, an increase of 164 personnel. In addition annual agency and consultancy costs averaged about £350,000 and £5.6m, respectively. Figures for the number of agency staff and consultants engaged on council business were not available, according to the council, which provided the information under Freedom of Information legislation.

Wage costs now account for two-thirds of the council's annual budget and there is precious little evidence of any real attempt to reduce bureaucracy or contain the council tax increases that help to pay for it. No doubt many of the new posts created reflect the increasingly intrusive nature of Government legislation, which requires local authorities to appoint an ever growing number of policy advisers and support staff but the overall increase is astonishing, notwithstanding the transfer of 187 staff to Bracknell Forest Homes in the current financial year.

The council is also facing financial difficulty over the £5m it lost following the collapse of two Icelandic banks earlier this year. This sum is the equivalent of three years' council tax increases and despite the public outcry which followed the Council's annoucement of the loss, it still hasn't provided any details about how it intends to manage the loss if it cannot be recovered. A shortfall of this magnitude would clearly have significant implications for next year's budget and would make it impossible to maintain existing services without significant additional funding.

Commenting on the council's predicament, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson, Ray Earwicker, said 'The public would be rightly concerned that staffing levels and costs had got out of hand. Coupled with the loss of £5m to two Icelandic banks the outlook for the coming budget was extremely worrying. Residents could ill afford yet another inflation-busting council tax increase next year in the midst of a recession. It would be totally unacceptable to expect council taxpayers to foot the bill for the council's own shortcomings.'