Interim workers still cost Southend Council £600+ a day

6:00am Thursday 29th July 2010

By Christine Sexton

SOUTHEND Council is continuing to hire interim managers at rates in excess of £600 a day.

Following a Freedom of Infor-mation request, the council has revealed it hired an interim head of audit and commissioning in June.

In the same month, the Echo revealed the council had hired Lorraine Butler as interim head of enterprise, tourism and regeneration to replace Anita Thornberry when she took sick leave in October. The council was widely criticised for wasting taxpayers’ money in paying so much to an individual member of staff.

The council currently has six interim managers, including two part-timers, at a cost of almost £600,000 over the past year.

These include three project managers, one programme manager and an interim head of school improvement. Daily fees range from £495 to £650 a day.

Rob Tinlin, Southend Council’s chief executive, said the use of interim managers was commonplace in most organisations and they were used sparingly as the need arose.

He said: “Interims are only commissioned to provide essential specialist advice and support if the council does not have the expertise in-house. The use of interims is cost-effective as there are no on-costs – they are only paid for the time they actually work and are not paid holiday or sick leave. Interim arrangements are always negotiated at the lowest possible rate at the time of recruitment.

“The council has been working proactively to manage its use of interims, primarily to cover for vacancies in critical posts or where we have gone through significant change.

“Where appropriate, we do also use existing staff to act up or to take on other corporate roles, which in turn provides staff with career development opportunities.”

Ms Butler is currently overseeing two major regeneration schemes – City Beach and Victoria Gateway.

Since the Echo revealed the huge cost of employing Ms Butler, two former interims were given permanent contracts.

Meanwhile, Basildon Council has revealed it has employed three interims at a total cost of £126,841 since 2009. Gerry Levelle, head of corporate services, said: “Basildon Council currently has three interim managers in post. The longest serving has been in post since October 2009.

“Interim managers are engaged for a variety of reasons, including to cover vacant posts and planned absences.”

Castle Point Council declined to provide any of the information requested by the Echo on the grounds of cost.