Does anyone know why the Biggleswade Town Council staffing costs are considerably higher than a selection of other Central Bedfdordshire Councils?
Ampthill - population 7040 - total expenditure £799,510 - staff costs £237,822
staff costs as a % of total expenditure 29.7%
Dunstable - population 35120 - total expenditure £1,669,610 - staff costs £420,334
staff costs as a % of total expenditure 25.2%
Houghton Regis - population 16670 - total expenditure £1,127,140 - staff costs £355,455
staff costs as a % of total expenditure 31.5%
Biggleswade - population 16410 - total expenditure £741,427 - staff costs £383,313
staff costs as a % of total expenditure 51.7%
I don't think percentage of total expenditure is a particularly useful measure (I assume this is purely revenue?) for staff costs. I do think you need a wider range of comparatives before drawing a firm conclusion.
ReplyDeleteOne alternative comparative measure might be staff costs related to population so that the town's size can be compared rather than the amount it spends. So in the examples above staff costs per capita of population are:
Ampthill ~ £33.78
Dunstable ~ £11.97
Houghton Regis ~ £21.32
Biggleswade ~ £23.36
As can be seen, Ampthill's staff costs for this indicator (although lowest as % of total spend) are considerably more...