Somerset Council has spent more than £33m on agency staff and consultants over the last two-and-a-half years.

The council declared a financial emergency in November 2023 and has been relying on "exceptional financial support" from central government to balance its books in both 2024 and 2025.

Following queries by the Conservative opposition group, the council has revealed it has spent more than £33m on consultants and agency staff since April 2023 – around the same amount that it saved on the first stage of its transformation programme.

The council said it had made "significant savings" since the financial emergency was declared and that much of the agency spending was justified due to national shortages in key professions, such as social workers and planning officers.

Councillor Dawn Denton, shadow portfolio holder for finance, procurement and performance, raised the issue when the full council met in Bridgwater on September 25.

She said: "There has been a significant and rising use of consultants and agency staff since this administration took control of Somerset Council in May 2022.

"While some contracts are small in scale and may be agreed for an extended period of time, added together they represent millions of pounds of public money.

"Can we ask that this information be made available to all councillors and the public in a transparent and accessible format?"

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Following the full council meeting, the council confirmed that it had spent £33.5m through its Matrix supplier – comprising £12.5m in 2023/24, £14.2m in 2024/25 and £6.8m so far in 2025/26.

This spending comes as the council's workforce programme – the first stage of its transformation programme – saw the equivalent of 555 posts being removed, resulting in almost 300 redundancies.

These figures exclude any "non-Matrix agency or consultancy costs", and also does not include the £20m which the council will be paying to consultants to drive forward phase two of its transformation programme.

This latter spending is designed to close the council's projected budget gap, which without such an intervention will hit £101m in 2026/27, increasing the likelihood of the council having to declare effective bankruptcy.

Reacting to the figures, Ms Denton (who represents the Frome North division) said: "Somerset Council is cutting services for our residents, increasing council tax and yet writing blank cheques to consultants.

"That is not responsible leadership, does not build trust or balance the books.

"Somerset deserves leadership that invests in its own people, not costly sticking-plaster solutions."

The Conservatives have been increasingly critical of the ruling Liberal Democrat administration's approach to the financial emergency, with Councillor Sue Osborne remarking that a recent report into the council's finances "had more red lights flashing than you'd ever find in a red light district".

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The council said that it often had little choice but to shell out money for agency staff due to ongoing national shortages in a range of key public sector roles – such as planning officers, social workers, occupational therapists and legal experts.

A spokesperson said: "We have made significant savings since the council formed in April 2023, including the recent workforce programme which reduced our pay bill by £33m.

"While going through a whole council restructure, it was always planned to use agency staff as short-term cover in specific roles rather than recruiting permanent staff who could later be at risk of redundancy.

"Now the restructure is complete, we are actively seeking to reduce use of agency staff and convert agency staff to permanent where possible.

"However, there are national shortages of staff in certain specialist roles in areas like legal, planning and social work, so like many councils, we'll continue to use agency staff where needed to ensure we can continue to deliver essential public services."

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