FOI reveals increase of 700 staff at BCP Council over past three years

Figures from a Freedom of Information request show 6,460 people were employed directly by the local authority in August 2026, either at Bournemouth Town Hall or working from home compared with 5,761 workers recorded in May 2023.

Excluding casual staff, the direct workforce rose from 4,779 to 5,328 over the same period.

Total annual employment costs have also grown, rising from £312.8 million in 2022/23 to an estimated £323 million for 2026/27.

During an overview and scrutiny meeting on October 19, Councillor Gavin Wright asked about the information revealed in the FOI.

Cllr Wright said: “I recently saw a Freedom of Information request that says we employ 700 more people since 2023.

“It might not be true but if it is that seems like an awful lot more people in just three years.

“I wonder if you could say if that is correct or not.”

BCP Council leader Councillor Millie Earl told the committee: “You would have thought that with local government reorganisation we would of made major cuts to out headcount across the local authority.

“What I would say is there are two areas in particular where we used to subcontract organisations and businesses.

“One is leisure, we used to use everyone active for our Poole Leisure centres, and they delivered our leisure provision and two years ago we brought that back under BCP so people were directly employed by the local authority rather than by a different providers.

“The other area is Poole Housing partnership, as part of reorganisation we brought in all of our different branches of housing providers and in Poole we used an external company which we have now brought in house and are now employed directly by BCP Home.

“I don’t have specific numbers for each of those areas but there are lots of other areas where we have brough external contracts internal because we have identified we can deliver a much better service for a lot less cost. ”

Cllr Jeff Hanna, BCP Council Cabinet Member for Transformation, Resources and Governance, said: “BCP Council has seen an increase in employee numbers since 2023, reflecting both growing demand for council services and changes in how some services are delivered.

“Part of this increase is the result of staff transferring into the council when services have moved back under council management. This means some of the rise reflects existing roles moving into the council, rather than new jobs being created.

“Our staff help support vulnerable children and adults, keep streets and public spaces clean, provide housing support, and deliver a wide range of essential local services across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

“Our focus remains on making sure residents receive reliable, high-quality services while delivering value for money for local taxpayers.”