Monmouthshire County Council has more than 600 job vacancies

A Gwent council has revealed it currently has more than 600 job vacancies – but doesn’t know how many of these it actually needs to employ someone to do. 

Despite the massive number of vacancies at Monmouthshire County Council, which has some 4,500 people on its payroll, it is currently only advertising for 36 posts. 

Those include teaching jobs, social worker vacancies, a position as a driver and a fitness class instructor. All are currently advertised on its website. 

If the authority intended to find someone to carry out every vacant job in its workforce it could cut the number of unemployed people in the county by 50 per cent, with latest figures from June this year showing there are 1,200 unemployed residents. 

At present the council is also using 52 agency staff, mostly in social care, and in posts it is struggling to fill. 

But the councillor responsible for the cash-strapped authority’s finances said it is still trying to figure out how many people it actually needs to deliver its functions. 

Cllr Rachel Garrick, the Labour cabinet member for resources, said it’s hoped updated information will help as the current system is unclear on how many vacancies need filling and which are old posts that no longer exist. 

She said: “The system does show 635 unoccupied posts, and some of those are legacy posts that will never genuinely be filled, but to give a specific answer on what genuine posts we have that we are not filling, compared to the legacy posts; the data is really difficult to quantify. 

“We are, at the moment, hoping that once installed the new system will be able to actively track that down to what this organisation looks like, the organisational capabilities and the number of posts we need to competently fulfill the services we need, but at this point I don’t believe we are in a position to articulate that without some significant work.” 

Cllr Garrick revealed the figure after she was questioned about the council’s latest financial monitoring report which shows the black hole in this year’s budget has grown to £9.15 million, up from the £8.8 million revealed in October. 

But the report said the rise in costs related to children’s services and homelessness was in part offset by “favourable movements” and highlighted a £376,000 saving due to the “level of ongoing staff vacancies being carried or held”. 

Independent Group leader, Francis Taylor, said she “wasn’t sure” if such a high number of vacancies, indicated by the saving, was “favourable” and warned the cabinet should consider the risk to staff, and of the council being unable to provide services. She had asked for the number and type of vacancies, which Cllr Garrick explained she couldn’t provide. 

Cllr Garrick said the projected overspend, against the agreed budget, is similar to many other councils across the UK and that some are facing a worse financial position.