THE deputy leader of Worcester City Council has hit out at criticism of an “underspend” on staff wages – by insisting the authority is not “an employment agency”.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, who is also the cabinet member responsible for economic prosperity, said the city’s taxpayers should not be supporting “employment for employment’s sake”.

As your Worcester News reported on Wednesday, staffing costs came in £176,000 below budget last year, leading to claims from Labour that bosses were deliberately delaying filling roles.

Coun Bayliss said: “I don’t think we levy council tax and exist as an authority to provide an employment agency. Our job is to empty the bins, provide planning advice, come up with ideas to boost growth, those kind of things, not simply provide employment for employment’s sake.

“This council is all about making sure it spends every penny wisely, that’s what we ought to be about. I do support employment of people, but we can’t see ourselves as simply some kind of employment agency.”

His comments, made during a meeting of the Conservative cabinet, were backed by council leader Coun Simon Geraghty.

“We should not be ashamed, at all, of having a surplus,” he said.

“Clearly during times of financial restraint we need to live within our means, and we are doing that.

“We have not been closing things down and slashing services, and are making sure we deliver and are making efficiency savings.”

Nine different departments underspent on wages during the 2011/12 financial year, despite the national unemployment rate hovering at a 17-year high. The biggest underspend was in the performance, innovation and efficiency department, which underspent by £67,000.

Coun Richard Boorn accused the authority of overseeing a “recruitment drag”. The council has since said there is no policy in place to delay recruitment.

The total wage bill last year was £10.2 million, with 378 people employed by the authority.