BREAKDOWN OF COUNCIL SPEND ON OUTSIDE STAFF

DATA published by the council under its obligations to make public any spending over £500 revealed that last year, between January and June, it paid out £3.73 million to Extra Personnel for temporary personnel in the fleet and waste service.

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The sum for the same period this year is £6.53 million. The data reveals the following payments in 2025 and 2024 (monthly payment for 2024 in brackets, all figures rounded):

■Jan 25: £960,000 (£258,000)

■Feb 25: £977,000 (£281,000)

Mar 25: £1.26m (£1.48 m)

■Apr 25: £1.23m (£705,000)

■May 25: £1.07m (£279,000)

June 25: £1.05m (£520,000)

The data also reveals the council made over 6,500 separate payments to the firm over the first half of this year, nearly double the number for the same six months in 2024.

Tom White Waste was brought in after the council declared a 'major incident', meaning it could bypass rules that restrict what it can do to 'replace' workers who are on strike.