Nottingham City Council will spend more than £1million employing people to cover vacancies in its finance department after "limited success" in recruiting permanent staff. Last summer, the authority was said to be "in danger" of not meeting its legal responsibilities due to a vacancy rate of more than 30 percent in its finance team.
But the council says it experienced "limited success" from its recruitment campaign due to a "national shortage of suitably qualified and experienced staff." The authority also says its salary levels are not "competitive in the market."The contracts for those taking up the interim roles were due to expire at the end of March, but the council has now approved an extension until the end of September, at a net cost of £1.153 million.
"Taken as a whole, in terms of finance, some positive progress has been made and should be acknowledged but overall the extent of progress falls short of what the IAB would have expected." In its delegated decision approving the £1.153 million spend, published on March 6, Nottingham City Council acknowledges that not all interim staff will agree to a contract extension.
The council is currently drawing up plans to "redesign and restructure" its finance service, with the authority expecting to consult with staff and trade unions on these plans over the summer.