Councillors sanction extra £234k to be spent on staff

Money is set to go on agency staff and consultancy support

- Kerry Ashdown

SENIOR Stafford Borough councillors have agreed to spend an extra £234,000 on agency staff and consultancy support while work to improve its planning service is carried out.

The authority has faced overspends in its planning department in recent years while working to tackle a backlog of applications.

Costs have included recruitment of agency staff. Councillor Ant Reid, cabinet member for economic development and planning, speaking last year, said that the service had struggled to recruit to vacancies due to the wider national shortage of experienced planners.

Stafford Borough Council commissioned an external independent review of the service last year. Mondrem, a not-for profit social enterprise whose purpose is to improve public services, carried out the review and an improvement plan has been produced.