A scheme which will pay council staff to do voluntary work has been criticised as “ill-conceived” at a time of public sector strife.
Opposition leader Councillor Francine Haeberling (Con, Saltford) said: “This scheme appears ill-conceived and we question whether it’s the right way for the council to support staff volunteering, given that it could cost the council thousands of pounds and put additional strain on services.
“It’s good for the council to encourage volunteering in the community and look for ways to support this. But using council tax payers’ money to pay staff to volunteer during work time cannot be the right way to do this, particularly when the authority is making redundancies and cutting back on services.
Opposition leader Councillor Francine Haeberling (Con, Saltford) said: “This scheme appears ill-conceived and we question whether it’s the right way for the council to support staff volunteering, given that it could cost the council thousands of pounds and put additional strain on services.
“It’s good for the council to encourage volunteering in the community and look for ways to support this. But using council tax payers’ money to pay staff to volunteer during work time cannot be the right way to do this, particularly when the authority is making redundancies and cutting back on services.
It said staff claiming for three days would have to give up one day of their own time and that “strong internal safeguards will be in place so that the system is not abused”.