Cheshire East Council paid out more than £700,000 to agency workers in the last two full calendar years to cover for staff sickness.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) through a freedom of information request (FOI), also revealed 63,644 working days were lost at the council in the same period – between January 2022 and December 2023.

The LDRS asked for figures between these dates as these were the first two full calendar years since the Covid pandemic and lockdown ended.

Cheshire East said today (Monday) sickness levels so far in the council in 2024 were broadly in line with the average rates of other North West local authorities.

A council spokesperson told the LDRS: "Cheshire East Council continues to work hard to reduce the causes of staff absences and to deliver real value for money for council taxpayers.

"For 2024 to date, Cheshire East's sickness rates are broadly in line with the average rates of other North West local authorities, and lower than a number of councils."

Staff levels at Cheshire East Council fluctuate but, at present, the council has 3,342 people on its books.

The FOI revealed 1,693 staff members took time off work, in the 12-month period between January 2022 and December 2022, because of sickness.

Of these, 203 were off for longer than a month.

During this period, 31,734 days were lost to sickness and it cost the council £345,016 to provide agency cover.

In the 12 months between January and December the following year, 1,760 members of staff took time off sick and, of these, 239 were off work for longer than a month.

There were a total 31,910 working days lost to sickness during this time and it cost the council £359,637 to pay for agency cover.

In total, over the two years, the council paid out £704,653 for agency workers to cover for staff sickness.

The FOI also requested information relating to how much was paid out in sick pay by the council to staff in this two-year period, but this part of the request was denied under section 12 of the FOIA because it would exceed the appropriate time limit taken to find the information.

Cheshire East Council is Macclesfield's largest form of local government.