FOI request- Workforce Spend and Workforce Supply Arrangements
Case reference FOI2026/01266
Received 17 June 2026
Published 15 July 2026
Request
I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information relating to your organisation's workforce and staffing expenditure for the most recently completed financial year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Please could you provide the following information:
1. Total Workforce Spend (FY 2025/26)
Please provide the total workforce spend incurred by the authority during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, including agency workers, contractors, interim managers, permanent recruitment, staff banks and outsourced workforce services.
2. Current Workforce Suppliers
Please provide a list of all workforce suppliers used during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, including total spend with each supplier.
3. Managed Service Provider (MSP), Neutral Vendor or RPO Arrangements
Please provide details of any current MSP, Neutral Vendor or Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) arrangements, including:
Supplier name
Contract start date
* Contract expiry date
4. Workforce Technology Solutions
Please provide details of any Vendor Management System (VMS), Staff Bank Platform or workforce technology solution currently in use, including:
Supplier name
Contract expiry date
5. Workforce Supplier Spend
Please provide the total spend with each workforce supplier during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
6. Contract Renewal Opportunities
Please provide details of any workforce-related contracts due to expire within the next 24 months, including:
Contract description
Incumbent supplier
* Contract expiry date
7. Procurement Frameworks
Please confirm which procurement framework(s) are currently used for workforce and recruitment services.
8. Responsible Department
Please confirm which department is responsible for workforce procurement (e.g. Procurement, HR, Workforce Planning or Commercial Services).
9. Key Contact
Please provide the name, job title and business contact details of the individual responsible for workforce procurement and recruitment services, where this information is publicly disclosable.
Please provide all spend figures exclusive of VAT where available.
Response
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information relating to your organisation's workforce and staffing expenditure for the most recently completed financial year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Please could you provide the following information:
1. Total Workforce Spend (FY 2025/26)
Please provide the total workforce spend incurred by the authority during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, including agency workers, contractors, interim managers, permanent recruitment, staff banks and outsourced workforce services.
Agency Staff:
|
2025/26 |
Total: |
|
Commercial Services |
£38,820.69 |
|
Community Services |
£65,167.43 |
|
Environmental Services |
£33,954.38 |
|
Finance |
£293,415.53 |
|
Housing Services |
£130,192.37 |
|
HRA Service Delivery |
£1,467,327.62 |
|
Legal & Democratic Services |
£2,441,398.23 |
|
Planning Services |
£97,298.04 |
|
Procurement |
£13,719.94 |
|
Regulatory Services |
£21,856.23 |
|
Total: |
£4,603,150.46 |
Information related to costs for permanent staff can be found on our website via the following links:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/financialmonitoring
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/budgetbook
Please refer to the 2025/26 General Fund Budget Book for a breakdown of staffing costs by department.
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
2. Current Workforce Suppliers
Please provide a list of all workforce suppliers used during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, including total spend with each supplier.
|
Agency |
Total: |
|
Ambient People Limited |
£2,500.00 |
|
Apetito Ltd |
£1,835.52 |
|
Cheesman Brothers Limited |
£1,576.58 |
|
Comensura Ltd |
£2,441,398.23 |
|
G2 Recruitment Solutions |
£44,025.00 |
|
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited |
£734.50 |
|
Howett Thorpe |
£132,511.23 |
|
Interim Partners Limited |
£178,353.50 |
|
James Andrews Recruitment Solutions |
£59,237.19 |
|
JUST HOUSING (UK) LIMITED |
£116,000.00 |
|
Liquid Recruit Solutions Limited |
£105,844.19 |
|
Matchtech Group UK Ltd |
£37,585.08 |
|
Matthew Algie & Company Limited |
£353.54 |
|
Morgan Hunt UK Limited |
£263,744.82 |
|
Morgan Law |
£111,658.10 |
|
Penna Plc |
£46,327.50 |
|
Scattergoods Agency Ltd |
£78,489.52 |
|
Solace In Business Ltd |
£572,835.50 |
|
The Oyster Partnership Ltd |
£136,199.56 |
|
Tile Hill Interim & Executive Limited |
£14,160.00 |
|
Vivid Resourcing Limited |
£257,780.90 |
|
Total: |
£4,603,150.46 |
3. Managed Service Provider (MSP), Neutral Vendor or RPO Arrangements
Please provide details of any current MSP, Neutral Vendor or Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) arrangements, including:
Supplier name
Contract start date
* Contract expiry date
A vendor neutral contract with Comensura – further details of the contract can be found on our website:
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?AIId=15722
Details of the contract start and end dates can also be found in our Contractors Register, available via the following website:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/DoingbusinesswithGBC
The contract was extended for a further two years as of 17 January 2025, per the provisions of the original contract.
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
4. Workforce Technology Solutions
Please provide details of any Vendor Management System (VMS), Staff Bank Platform or workforce technology solution currently in use, including:
Supplier name
Contract expiry date
Unit4ERP – a twelve month contract extension has recently been invoked and the contract is now due to expire on 30th May 2027:
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=5163
5. Workforce Supplier Spend
Please provide the total spend with each workforce supplier during the financial year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
|
Agency |
Total: |
|
Ambient People Limited |
£2,500.00 |
|
Apetito Ltd |
£1,835.52 |
|
Cheesman Brothers Limited |
£1,576.58 |
|
Comensura Ltd |
£2,441,398.23 |
|
G2 Recruitment Solutions |
£44,025.00 |
|
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited |
£734.50 |
|
Howett Thorpe |
£132,511.23 |
|
Interim Partners Limited |
£178,353.50 |
|
James Andrews Recruitment Solutions |
£59,237.19 |
|
JUST HOUSING (UK) LIMITED |
£116,000.00 |
|
Liquid Recruit Solutions Limited |
£105,844.19 |
|
Matchtech Group UK Ltd |
£37,585.08 |
|
Matthew Algie & Company Limited |
£353.54 |
|
Morgan Hunt UK Limited |
£263,744.82 |
|
Morgan Law |
£111,658.10 |
|
Penna Plc |
£46,327.50 |
|
Scattergoods Agency Ltd |
£78,489.52 |
|
Solace In Business Ltd |
£572,835.50 |
|
The Oyster Partnership Ltd |
£136,199.56 |
|
Tile Hill Interim & Executive Limited |
£14,160.00 |
|
Vivid Resourcing Limited |
£257,780.90 |
|
Total: |
£4,603,150.46 |
6. Contract Renewal Opportunities
Please provide details of any workforce-related contracts due to expire within the next 24 months, including:
Contract description
Incumbent supplier
* Contract expiry date
Vendor neutral contract with Comensura due to expire 14/04/2027.
7. Procurement Frameworks
Please confirm which procurement framework(s) are currently used for workforce and recruitment services.
Our vendor neutral contract with Comensura was procured via ESPO MSTAR 4 Framework Access/User Master Vendor Agreement.
More information can be found on our website:
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/mgDecisionDetails.aspx?IId=18505&Opt=1
Additionally, please also see our Procurement Policy, in particular Section 21:
8. Responsible Department
Please confirm which department is responsible for workforce procurement (e.g. Procurement, HR, Workforce Planning or Commercial Services).
Typically our People and Organisational Development (People & OD) Team. However, please note that due to the upcoming Local Government Reorganisation programme that is currently ongoing in the Surrey area we do not know which teams or managers may be responsible for this type of procurement once the new West Surrey Authority is invested in April 2027.
9. Key Contact
Please provide the name, job title and business contact details of the individual responsible for workforce procurement and recruitment services, where this information is publicly disclosable.
Please note that we do not publish the names and contact details of Guildford Borough Council employees, because it constitutes personal data under Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for employees whose names are not already publicly available.
However, I can confirm that the contact details for the Joint Assistant Director of People and Organisational Development can be found on our website:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/27364/Assistant-Directors-for-Legal-and-Democratic-Services
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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