By Chris McCall

Copyright dailyrecord

Scotland’s largest local authority has been forced to shell out millions on agency workers to ensure streets are swept and bins get emptied. Glasgow City Council spent £4.9 million on agency staff across its Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability (NRS) department last year, covering an estimated 174,000 hours of work. The spending formed part of a £33 million overspend in NRS for 2024/25. The Labour group on the council said the money was being used largely in refuse and waste services – where high staff turnover has forced the local authority to rely on agency workers to keep statutory services running. It comes after the council’s SNP administration hiked council tax by 7.5 per cent earlier this year as part of a plan to improve the condition of the city following years of complaints from residents. The budget includes £1.5m to recruit additional street cleansing staff and £2.3m to recruit dedicated neighbourhood clean teams for each ward in the city. But Labour councillor Eunis Jassemi warned the spending on agency workers underlined the council’s failure to recruit and retain a stable workforce. The councillor, who is bidding to become the next MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, told the Record: “Nearly £5 million blown on agency staff is a damning indictment of SNP failure in Glasgow. “That’s 174,000 hours of stop-gap cover while bins go uncollected and services collapse. Glasgow deserves better than short-term fixes. “Glasgow Labour would invest in a stable workforce to deliver the reliable services our communities expect.” A council spokesman said: “Agency staff are only ever brought in when there is no other way to cover an absence or vacancy within our teams. The use of agency staff can therefore play a vital role in delivering essential services for Glasgow’s residents. “When agency staff cover absence there is a significant cost to the council and we do everything possible to minimise absence as this will reduce the costs to the council. “Agency staff who work with the council for a sufficient period of time will access benefits such as sick pay and paid leave, which are available to permanent staff, and there is always a pathway to permanent employment for agency staff.” An SNP spokesman said: “As part of its budget this year, the SNP administration recruited an extra 300 staff for frontline services including cleansing and parks. Eunis Jassemi and his Labour colleagues voted against that. “Now that Glaswegians are beginning to see the benefits of that investment with entire new teams operating across every city neighbourhood, Councillor Jassemi can only carp from the sidelines in an attempt to get himself to Holyrood.” To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here