Cumberland Council spent over £15m on agency staff
CUMBERLAND Council spent more than £15 million on agency staff last year but the authority is taking steps to try and reduce that figure.
The issue was raised during Tuesday's (April 29) meeting of the council, at the Civic Centre in Carlisle councillor Chris Wills (Upperby, Lib Dems) asked a question of one of the members of the executive.
Cllr Wills asked: 'In 2024 Cumberland Council spent over £15 million on employing agency staff.
'Whilst much of this money was spent on ensuring essential services, expenditure of over one million pounds a month on agency staff is unsustainable for a local authority.
'Please can cllr Cannon, the portfolio holder for financial planning and assets, explain the plan for significantly reducing this level of spend?'
Councillor Barbara Cannon (St Michaels, Labour) said it had been discussed within the authority 'for quite some time' and the use of agency staff sometimes covered roles which were traditionally hard to recruit.
She said they used a range of measures including targeted media adverts as well as Google search adverts to recruit more staff.
Cllr Cannon said that a number of newly qualified social workers had started at the council and agency use was also linked with sickness absence.
She said there were regular meetings with HR staff and there were return to work interviews to try to ensure absences did not recur. She added: 'The aim is to minimise reliance on agency staff.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Broadcom's AI Bonanza Has Limits
Broadcom is making a lot of money by helping tech companies manufacture custom chips that speed up artificial-intelligence computations. Broadcom's stock is the fifth-best-performing in the S&P 500 over the past two months, rising more than 70% over the period—a stunning rise given the company's already large size. Years ago, Broadcom began helping Google make AI chips, an interesting but not wildly profitable side hustle at the time.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Alphabet to Expand Engineering Ranks Through 2026
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai vows to keep hiring engineers into 2026 as AI investments ramp, saying human talent remains crucial amid Google's $100 billion-plus AI push. Speaking at Bloomberg Tech in San Francisco, Pichai said engineering headcount will grow from current levels into next year, believing more engineers will boost productivity by automating mundane tasks. The comments come as peers retrench: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) cut hundreds of roles after its largest layoff in years, and Intel (INTC) joined the wave, with 137 tech companies shedding 62,114 jobs so far in 2025 per Though Google itself has trimmed staff in recent years, Pichai argued AI still makes fundamental coding errors, underscoring the need for engineers to oversee model development. Are we on an absolute path to AGI? I don't think anyone can say for sure, he said, highlighting uncertainties around artificial general intelligence. As Google integrates AI more deeply into Search, publishers fear traffic losses from AI-generated answers, but Pichai assured that Google will continue directing users to websites. We designed AI Overviews to prioritize high-quality outbound links, and years from now that's how Google will work, he noted. Although tech layoffs have eased, sector cuts underscore headwinds. Pichai's emphasis on engineering investment signals that Alphabet sees personnel as a moat against rivals. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth said Silicon Valley is now more open to supporting U.S. military projects, referencing Meta's partnership with Anduril Industries to supply XR gear for the Army. Investors should watch whether Alphabet's engineering investments pay off as rivals cut costs, because talent retention could determine AI competitiveness. Investors will eye Alphabet's Q2 earnings and headcount data when reported next month. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Google CEO Sundar Pichai Is Optimistic About AI's Future
Here are five things in tech that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them? In a far reaching interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Google CEO says that, while acknowledging the risks associated with artificial intelligence, he has optimism that humanity can collaboratively address potential challenges and believes hat as awareness of AI's risks grows, collective efforts will emerge to mitigate them. He advocated for balancing rapid innovation with ethical considerations to ensure that technological progress benefits society as a whole. He also shared insights into emerging technologies like Google Beam and XR glasses which he says will enhance how people connect and interact (Source: YouTube) Why this is important for your business: Google has a massive reach into both our personal and professional lives. Besides taking a deep dive into AI, Fridman – one of my favorite podcasters – discussed the status and future of many of the business products that Google provides – from ads and search to Gmail, Sheets, Maps, Docs and Meet as well as future innovations in robotics and research. If your business uses and relies on Google applications – and most do – this is an important conversation to better understand where the company is heading so you can be prepared to leverage their new offerings. GlassJar – a new accounting software company – has been launched by former accounting software founders to address long-standing frustrations with QuickBooks and similar legacy tools. The company aims to provide a simpler, more transparent solutions for small businesses and accountants. Key features: Streamlined user experience to reduce bookkeeping time and eliminate tedious workarounds. Fast performance without crashes or lag when handling large data sets. Flexible pricing so users only pay for what they need. GlassJar is currently in private development, with plans for a public beta later this year. The company is inviting small businesses, bookkeepers, and accountants to sign up for early access. (Source: Business Wire) Why this is important for your business: Taking on Intuit in the small business accounting space is really a David vs. Goliath challenge. How good does an accounting application need to be in order to get users to change from their existing software? Competition is good and I'm interested to check out what GlassJar is offering. But they've got major challenge in front of them – and an industry of conversative, non-risk taking accountants who will be a tough audience to convince. Anthropic has launched Claude Explains – a blog primarily written by its AI model, Claude, with human oversight. The blog focuses on technical topics, showcasing Claude's ability to generate educational content. Human editors will refine and enhance Claude's drafts before publication. The blog aims to demonstrate AI-human collaboration, rather than replacing human expertise. Topics range from creative writing to data analysis and business strategy. Anthropic sees this as an example of how AI can augment human work, not replace it. 'This isn't just vanilla Claude output – the editorial process requires human expertise,' an Anthropic spokesperson said. (Source: TechCrunch) Why this is important for your business: We use ChatGPT to write blogs for our site but of course we don't just publish right from the chatbot. A human reviews and edits the output first. I haven't tested Claude Explains so maybe it's more accurate. I'm finding more of my clients starting to choose their AI weapons. ChatGPT remains the most popular but there are a bunch who are devoted to Claude, Grok, CoPilot, Gemini and others. I'm sure the other chatbots will soon match Claude Explains offerings in an effort not to fall behind with their followings. Microsoft Teams is introducing a countdown timer feature to help users manage meeting time more effectively. This long-requested tool aims to improve meeting structure, presenter performance, and overall productivity. Key benefits include Structured Meetings, eliminating the need for third-party timers, allowing organizers to set a visible countdown within Teams. Better Presenter Performance to help speakers stay on track without relying on external time cues. Control & Flexibility allows organizers can pause, stop, or extend the timer as needed. Enhanced Productivity Culture encourages teams to be more mindful of time, reducing unnecessary meeting overruns. (Source: UC Today) Why this is important for your business: As much as we hate meetings, I'm finding that some of my corporate clients are getting good at keeping them to 30 minutes and no more. For the others that need a little more help, the tools that Teams is now offering seems very useful. A new study finds that AI chatbots are being adopted at an unprecedented rate, but their impact on workplace productivity remains modest. According to the study, AI chatbots save users only about 3 percent of work hours on average. Productivity gains rarely translate into higher wages, with only a 3-7 percent improvement in pay. Despite rapid adoption, AI chatbots have had no significant impact on earnings or recorded work hours. The report however, noted that past studies showed greater productivity gains – exceeding 15 percent. The study suggests that while AI chatbots help streamline tasks, their broader economic impact is still unclear. (Source: Computerworld) Why this is important for your business: There is no question that AI chatbots can someday significantly increase productivity. Used correctly they can generate blogs (see above), create and review contracts, write policies and perform searches much faster than the typical Google search because they summarize the results quicker. So what's the holdup? Hallucinations. No one I know trusts their output, so human oversight, verification and correction is always required. So whatever time is saved is offset by the additional time needed to catch and fix errors. You know this will improve, right? Every week I choose five business technology news stories and include in this column, along with my thoughts on how they impact small businesses.
