Response 3799189

Response to request for information

Reference

3799189

Response date

12 September 2025

Request

This is a freedom of information request regarding agency workers in your council workforce. I am looking for information for 2024-25, 2023-24 and 2022-23 and have included tables which you can use if convenient. Please provide me with:

1. The number of agency workers in your council in each year
2. The percentage of the council workforce comprised of agency workers in each year
3. The number of agency workers who have been with the council for over 2 years in each year
4. The number of agency workers being paid over £75,000 (full time equivalent) per year in each year
5. The council’s total agency worker spending in each year
6. The overall staff turnover rate in each year
7. A breakdown of the number of agency workers by engagement reason in each year. If your HR system categorises these differently, please use those categories instead

Response

The number of agency workers in your council in each year

• 2022-23: 109 (100 of 109 were in a manual role)
• 2023-24: 94 (86 of 94 were in a manual role)
• 2024-25: 75 (74 of 75 were in a manual role)

The percentage of the council workforce comprised of agency workers in each year

The data below should allow you to make this calculation

• 2022-23: 288
• 2023-24: 313
• 2024-25: 316

The number of agency workers who have been with the council for over 2 years in each year

• 2022-23: 0
• 2023-24: 0
• 2024-25: 0

The number of agency workers being paid over £75,000 (full time equivalent) per year in each year

We are not able to report on individual expenditure however we do report on agency expenditure which is available on our RBC website on the Expenditure over £500 page. You will need to download the relevant document and filter for agency.

The council’s total agency worker spending in each year

Please be aware that our Finance department have not had the 2024/25 accounts audited yet and therefore we have not supplied this information. The table below includes total agency worker spending for 2023-24 and 2022-23.

• 2022-23: £929,811.91
• 2023-24: £699,609.85

The overall staff turnover rate in each year

• 2022-23: 17.35%
• 2023-24: 11.30%
• 2024-25: 10.73%

A breakdown of the number of agency workers by engagement reason in each year. If your HR system categorises these differently, please use those categories instead

Please note we do not hold this information for 10 of the agency workers from the total figure given in Q2 due to a change in management

Number of agency workers by engagement reason

Year	Cover for long term sickness	Cover for acting up	Short term cover	Cover of other long term absence	Filling a vacancy (no substantive postholder)	Project Work/ Increase in demand	Other
2022 - 23	14	1	-	12	25	7	42
2023 - 24	22	-	2	11	27	7	24
2024 - 25	11	2	1	12	19	7	22