Agency Staffing for Internal and External Communications
Case reference FOI2025/02496
Received 19 December 2025
Published 13 January 2026
Request
I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (or the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002) regarding recruitment agency usage for communications roles.
Definition of Scope: For the purposes of this request, "communications" refers to the general department or function that encompasses:
Internal or external communications functions;
The press office or media relations;
Social media management;
Marketing functions (where these sit within the communications structure).
Please provide the following data:
1. 2025/26 Actuals and Outturn Forecast
1a. Provide the total number of days a temporary worker was employed via an agency for the communications roles defined above from 6 April 2025 to the date of this request.
1b. Provide the council’s current projected year-end outturn for the total number of agency days for these roles for the full 2025/26 financial year (ending 31 March 2026).
1c. Provide a breakdown of these days (actual and forecast) by job grade or title (e.g., Communications Officer, Senior Communications Officer, Communications Manager).
2. 2026/27 Planned Requirements
2a. Provide the total number of days currently budgeted or forecasted for agency-provided communications staff for the 2026/27 financial year.
2b. Provide a breakdown of this requirement by job grade or title.
2c. Financial Qualifier: Note that I am requesting the currently held financial forecasts and draft budget allocations for 2026/27 as they exist at the time of this request. If these forecasts do not yet segment requirements by specific job title, please provide the department's overall forecasted budget or total "headcount days" for temporary agency workers within the communications function.
Response
I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (or the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002) regarding recruitment agency usage for communications roles.
Definition of Scope: For the purposes of this request, "communications" refers to the general department or function that encompasses:
Internal or external communications functions;
The press office or media relations;
Social media management;
Marketing functions (where these sit within the communications structure).
Please provide the following data:
1. 2025/26 Actuals and Outturn Forecast
A: Please note these figures incorporate temporary workers employed via an agency and temporary workers employed via a contract for services through Hoople Ltd, which is a not-for-profit public sector-owned ‘joint venture’ company providing shared back-office support services such as HR, Finance, IT, Payroll for its shareholders, primarily Herefordshire Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Wye Valley NHS Trust. Herefordshire Council is the majority shareholder with around 80% of shares.
1a. Provide the total number of days a temporary worker was employed via an agency for the communications roles defined above from 6 April 2025 to the date of this request.
A: The total days worked to end of December 2025 by temporary workers employed via an agency and temporary workers employed via a contract for services in the communications service was 346.5 days
1b. Provide the council’s current projected year-end outturn for the total number of agency days for these roles for the full 2025/26 financial year (ending 31 March 2026).
A: Total days projected full year = 558
Total outturn projected = £353,728
Please note: Communications is a professional function recognised by the Civil Service and the Local Government Association (LGA),and is seen as a key enabler of delivering public services, while at the same time responding to media scrutiny in the interests of transparency and public accountability. Herefordshire Council’s communications team for 2025/26 was 15 FTEs – less than the average size of a council communications team according to LGA benchmarking. As of December 2025, there were five vacancies, including a number which had been unfilled for many months. To fill vacant posts some temporary workers were employed, including through Hoople, pending a wider review of the team with a view of finding long-term savings with far less reliance on agency workers.
1c. Provide a breakdown of these days (actual and forecast) by job grade or title (e.g., Communications Officer, Senior Communications Officer, Communications Manager).
A: Actual
Communications Manager - 25
Head of Communications - 45
Service Director – 140.5
Press and Publicity Officer - 136
Forecast
Communications Manager - 27
Head of Communications 60
Service Director 60
Press and Publicity Officer 60
2. 2026/27 Planned Requirements
2a. Provide the total number of days currently budgeted or forecasted for agency-provided communications staff for the 2026/27 financial year.
A: 33 days
Note: This is a 90% reduction in the forecast use of agency expenditure.
2b. Provide a breakdown of this requirement by job grade or title.
A: 1 x Press and Publicity Officer (to 18 May 2026)
2c. Financial Qualifier: Note that I am requesting the currently held financial forecasts and draft budget allocations for 2026/27 as they exist at the time of this request. If these forecasts do not yet segment requirements by specific job title, please provide the department's overall forecasted budget or total "headcount days" for temporary agency workers within the communications function.
A: This information is included in the above response.
Documents
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