Manchester council spends £70m on agency staff in six years

This article appeared in today's Manchester Evening News about information I've obtained showing the Council has spent £70,000,000 on Agency staff over the last six years (click picture to make it larger):

At a time when the Council is laying thousands of workers off and imposing harmful cuts on Manchester communities; it is hugely wasteful for them to be spending millions on agency staff. This is just the latest example of Manchester Labour making the wrong choices with our money.

Chorlton MP John Leech said: "If there is a full time job to be done a worker should get a full time job with proper workers rights, using agency staff doesn't save money and doesn't give the workers the rights they deserve."

The figures for each year are:

01.04.2007 - 31.03.2008 - £14,408,317
01.04.2008 - 31.03.2009 - £17,014,007
01.04.2009 - 31.03.2010 - £16,455,400
01.04.2010 - 31.03.2011 - £11,577,246
01.04.2011 - 31.03.2012 - £10,960,207
01.04.2012 - 31.03.2013 - £2,798,038 in addition to the £9,813,022 spent on Temporary staff

Footpath 181 Update

Last March I blogged about the successful campaign to stop the Council reopening a 65 year old disused footpath at great cost to taxpayers (conservative estimates were between £40-50,000).

Yesterday I received an email to say that the City Council intends to apply to the Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 at 2.00pm for Orders under Section 116 of the Highways Act 1980 for the stopping up of four lengths of footpath between Barlow Moor Road and Claude Road (Footpath 181), Chorlton, as they are unnecessary for public use.  

The vast majority of local residents support the stopping up of the path because reopening is a terrible waste of public money, it could increase crime and anti social behaviour and because it is unnecessary. However if you do object you are advised to contact the City Solicitor.

Labour Council’s £19million Consultants bill is an “insult to residents”

Labour Council’s £19million Consultants bill is an “insult to residents”

Posted October 25, 2012  Comments(0) Edit

Recently uncovered figures show Manchester Council spent a staggering £18.9m on Consultants’ fees in the last three years.

Marc Ramsbottom who is standing to be the first Lib Dem MP for Manchester Central in next month’s By-Election slammed the Council: “It is an insult to residents that our arrogant Labour Council is cutting frontline services whilst handing over vast sums to Consultants.

It is simply wrong for the Council to be cutting lollipop wardens and putting Surestart centres at risk so they can line the pockets of well off consultants.”

The figures requested by Chorlton Lib Dem Councillor Victor Chamberlain in June have only just been released: “Last year the Council said it had to lay off 2000 employees; how many jobs and services could have been saved if this money was used?

The Council is obviously embarrassed by these shocking figures because it has taken them nearly four months to release this information; despite having a legal obligation to release the information after 28 working days. This is not the transparency Manchester residents expect.”

The figures also show that over the last three years the Council has spent £106k on Foreign Travel for Councillors and officials; including to exotic destinations such as Barbados, LA, New York, Nice and Venice.

Manchester Lib Dems slam Council’s £425k Alicia Keys concert

Reacting to the news that Labour runManchester Council spent £425,000 on an Alicia Keys’ concert last week, Councillor Simon Wheale, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Manchester City Council, said:

“It is absolutely appalling that Manchester’s Labour Town Hall bosses have committed a monumental, ‘empire state’ scale of spending on one concert whilst putting the future of Sure Start Centres in doubt and whilst saying Lollipop Wardens must be laid off.

The proposal to spend nearly half a million pounds on this one event has not been put before a single Council Committee for discussion or approval. I will be writing to the Chief Executive of the City Council to ask which Labour Executive Councillor gave the go ahead for this crazy decision.

It is unbelievable that hundreds of thousands of pounds are now been spent on one night’s concert – surely with a brilliant star like Alicia Keys and a great venue like the Cathedral, private sponsors would have been queuing up to support MTV with this event without huge spending from Manchester Council taxpayers.”

Marc Ramsbottom, Lib Dem Candidate in the Manchester Central By-Election said: “Liberal Democrats in Manchester have called for a Musical Hall of Fame to be set up to promote tourism based on our musical heritage, on a permanent basis, at minimal cost, within one of our existing or forthcoming facilities. This far cheaper alternative was turned down by Manchester Labour Council chiefs.”

John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington, said: “If the council has £425,000 to spend they should spend it on front line services, or perhaps encouraging Manchester’s music talent.

“To spend £425,000 subsidising MTV, who have 0.1 per cent of the UK market, is a complete waste of money.

“This shows that Manchester’s Labour council has completely the wrong priorities.”

Photo from:http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1589873_manchester-council-spent-425k-on-alicia-keys-cathedral-concert