Deal to provide council with agency staff valued at £24m

Published on Friday 18 July 2008 10:43

THE value of the contract handed to an agency to supply the city council with all its temporary staff is £24 million, it emerged today.

A contract award notice has been published after councillors agreed a deal with temping agency Blue Arrow Limited.

The move is designed to save 1.4m a year, or 4.2m over the lifetime of the contract, by introducing a more effective use of agency staff.

But concerns have been raised about the impact on pay and conditions for workers as a result.

The Evening News revealed earlier this year that the council currently pays out more than 14m for the equivalent of 535 temporary workers to cover staffing shortages, or meet a demand for specialist skills. The figure of 24m does not include VAT.

Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz has expressed concern over the decision.

Blue Arrow was recently censured by an employment tribunal in Cardiff over unfair discrimination against a transsexual truck driver.