A PLEA to double the budget given to Torridge councillors so they can help fund projects in their communities has been rejected so more money can be spent on the council’s urgent staffing problem.

It comes as the council has revealed that new photo-ID laws means it has to pay £50,000 more for staff to run elections.

Councillors on the communities and resources committee were discussing how to allocate surplus reserve funds of more than £850,000 and agreed to spend more than £320,000 of it on addressing retention and recruitment of staff and training, as well as meeting the costs of agency staff.

Cllr Lauren Bright (Lib Dem, Great Torrington) asked if some money could be used to increase the councillors’ “locality fund” – which they use for projects in areas they represent – from £1,000 to £2,000.

“Local causes are more important than ever, with cuts to central government funding for all sorts of things, and our communities are relying more and more on the voluntary groups to actually do things to make the towns better and those in turn benefit Torridge,” she said.

“Torrington in Bloom did a great deal to tidy up the town and relieve the council of planting every border and public garden.

“Putting all this money into the retention of staff seems like a lot, could we not just take out £36,000 so all councillors have another £1,000 to spend in their communities?”

Members were told that difficulties in recruitment meant that more agency staff were being used to cover not only frontline services like refuse collection, but also office roles such as housing benefit and admin and planning.

Council chief executive Steve Hearse said a large proportion of staff were going into the agency sector as pay is higher. 

It also had problems recruiting staff for the workshops, as mechanics could earn between £10,000 and £15,000 more in the private sector.

“This is the most we can do to keep the workforce operating and services running,” said the chief executive.

A total of £100,000 has been set aside in the surplus funds for agency backfill, £150,000 for training apprentices and a graduate trainee scheme.

The committee was told that money had already been spent on health and wellbeing improvements for staff, a new website had details of where they could get support, and a new “green room” had been provided so workers had somewhere to eat other than at their desks. 

There was also a healthy training budget.

Cllr Ken James (Ind, Milton and Tamarside) said a real conscious effort had been made to recruit graduates and upgrade staff and encourage them to stay.

“We have lost staff in the past because of offers elsewhere. It is the same all over Devon,” he said.

“Members’ council grants always used to be £1,000 and it went up because we had a surplus from the new homes bonus for a couple of years but we don’t get that at all now, it was a million pounds. 

“We have to make that up and cannot give it away if we haven’t got it.”

The remaining surplus funds will go into providing accommodation for refugees (£293,000), elections which are costing more due to voter ID needing additional staff requirements (£50,000), support for The Plough Arts Centre (£30,000), moving operations function from Middledock to Appledore’s new environmental centre (£90,000), refurbishment of the pilot boat (£13,000) and investment in the council leisure facilities (£51,000).