Mid Devon slashes temp staffing costs by 47% as sick leave rates improve

The money Mid Devon District Council spends on temporary staff has fallen by nearly half as the numbers of employees on long-term leave drops.

Just under £683,000 went on temps in the last financial year, a significant 47 per cent decrease compared to the more than £1.1 million the year before.

The council's scrutiny committee heard the authority expects an average of 7.65 days per full-time equivalent staff member to be lost to sickness for this financial year ending next April, down from 10.45 days in 2023/24. That was the highest in four years.

The council said it is offering flu jabs to help reduce sick leave and improve staff well-being.

Matthew Page, head of people, performance and waste, said the fall in sickness and agency spend is welcome. "Furthermore, staff turnover for this year should be broadly the same as last year, so it is important we tackle the challenge of making our employer offer compelling, and sorting issues like annual pay awards are as important as ever," he said.

He added that the threat of industrial action among staff had now "disappeared" as the ballot did not reach the required threshold, and an accepted pay award would now be paid in November.

Council staff will receive a rise of £1,290 or 2.5 per cent.