Folkestone and Hythe Council: A Decade of Temporary Staff Costs

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s temporary staff costs have seesawed over the past decade, peaking at about £1.66m in 2022/23 before falling to £853,699 in 2024/25 — the first sub-£1m outturn in three years. The first half of 2025/26 (Apr–Sep) added £292,567.

Across the nine full financial years from 2016/17 to 2024/25, the council spent £9,972,546 on agency and interim staff — an average of £1,108,061 a year. If you include the 2025/26 half-year line, the ten-year series averages £1,026,511 (noting this last figure isn’t a full year, so it isn’t directly comparable).

The spike year was 2022/23 at £1,664,693, a new record confirmed at the time by local watchdog reporting. The 2024/25 dip below £1m aligns with independent tracking too, which noted the turnaround after several million-plus years.

What might be driving the change? Part of the story in recent years was supplier concentration: HR Go (Kent) Ltd accounted for around 22% of agency spend to December 2023, raising value-for-money questions about rate control and dependence on a small pool of providers. The council has not publicly set out in one place how vacancy management, recruitment, or tighter commissioning contributed to the 2024/25 fall — an explanation residents deserve if savings are to last.

2025/26 so far: £292,567 in the first half. A naive straight-line projection would annualise to ~£585,134, but winter pressures, hard-to-fill roles and one-off projects can swing the second half. The direction of travel is positive; the test is whether it is sustained.

By the numbers (2016/17–2025/26 H1)

• Total (full years only): £9,972,546; average: £1,108,061

• Total (including 2025/26 H1): £10,265,113; average: £1,026,511

• Peak: £1,664,693 (2022/23); low: £749,652 (2018/19)

• 2024/25: £853,699 — first time under £1m since 2020/21

• 2025/26 (Apr–Sep): £292,567 (indicative only)

Bottom line: After a record-high agency bill in 2022/23, the council has pulled spending back under £1m — a welcome relief for the general fund. To lock in the gain, FHDC should publish a clear narrative that links vacancies, recruitment outcomes and contract controls to the figures, and commit to accessible quarterly updates so residents can see whether the improvement endures.

The Shepway Vox Team

Journalism For The People NOT the Powerful