It is more likely than not our council, Folkestone & Hythe District Council spending on temporary staff will pass the million pound mark for the financial year 2019/20. In the first six months of the 2019/20 they have spent in excess of £700,000. In 2018/19 for the same period they spent in excess of £420,000. This means there has been a 68% increase of spending on temporary staff year on year.
If as we suspect the temporary staff costs do break the £1 million barrier it will be not be the first time. In the financial year 2017/18 the council spent £1,043,789 on temporary staff.
F&HDC are currently in their second year of downsizing the organisation and it was predicted by iGnite, the consultants brought into do the work around the downsizing that the council would have a cumulative deficit of up to £3 million in 2019/20, bouncing back to a net zero benefit between 2020/21 and 2021/22. From there on in, so the consultants say, the Council will be making substantial cumulative benefits, year on year. This would be achieved through the use of technology, such as algorithms – which our council use and downsizing the work force.
F& HDC in co-operation with their main ICT Contractor, Sopra Steria have identified realizable savings of up to £600,000 per annum – based on 60% automation. However, as Dr Susan Priest Head of Paid Service of F&HDC made clear recently in a public meeting, the days of Sopra Steria running the ICT contract appear numbered.
If our Council truly wants to save money, they should not pay contractors in breach of the contracts they have with them. This would be a big help.
Meanwhile if you have been downsized by F &HDC do contact us, everything will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
shepwayvox[at]riseup[dot]net
The Shepwayvox Team
Dissent is NOT a Crime
