Over £100,000 for interim drug and alcohol misuse officer
02/10/2025
The nature of the role needs specific expertise
by Nadia Lincoln, Local Democracy Reporter
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has agreed to pay out a six-figure sum for the interim appointment of a Drug and Alcohol Commissioner.
The authority is currently recommissioning its Public Health Drug and Alcohol Misuse services, which is a project designed to improve the support received by people who need additional help beyond traditional NHS interventions.
The service Commissioner is responsible for designing, procuring, and monitoring services that address prevention, harm reduction, recovery, and rehabilitation. It is anticipated that they may be paid in excess of £100,000 by the end of the current financial year, which requires approval by Full Council.
WNC has said the nature of the role needs specific expertise in commissioning these services, due to the complex issues around substance misuse, which they do not already have within the authority.
Cllr Andrew Last, Cabinet member for HR and Corporate Services, shared that the substance misuse service supports approximately 1,800 adults and 100 children and young people at any one time.
He added: “Due to the departure of the previous Commissioner six months prior to the tender process, there was an urgent need to secure specialist commissioning expertise to ensure continuity and compliance and service delivery.
“An interim appointment was made to fill this gap swiftly and effectively. The day rate for this interim role is in line with market averages for the level of specialist experience required.”
However, Cllr Bob Purser (Labour) questioned whether appointing agency staff was really the best way to go forward due to the high costs, and why they were not able to permanently appoint someone to the post.
Interim staff are often on higher pay due to the short nature of roles and because they do not receive certain benefits of employment, such as holiday, sick pay or pension contributions.
Cllr Ian McCord (Independent) addressed the Reform UK administration: “I would think most people out there on the street would think why the hell are the Council paying somebody more than £100,000 to come up with some document that no one’s going to read?
“This is your test. If you’re really going to push this through, please don’t try and convince me that you’re actually going to root out waste in local government.”
Leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Daniel Lister, echoed: “The very same councillors who campaigned against agency spending are now waving through these exact same arrangements.
“They’ve gone from ‘agency spending is destroying local government’ to ‘well, we need this particular one’, faster than you can say U-turn.”
Responding to the criticisms, Finance Cabinet member, Cllr John Slope said: “Our overall agency costs have fallen and they continue to fall.
“These [drug and alcohol] services save lives, support families and reduce crime. This decision is about expertise, compliance and protecting some of the most vulnerable residents in West Northamptonshire.”
Cllr Last added that the Council could not afford to wait for a full-time appointment and that they needed to get “services up and running as soon as possible”.
Members voted to approve the proposed remuneration of over £100,000 for the interim role, with 54 in favour, 13 against and two abstentions.
WNC noted that costs will be entirely funded by Public Health ringfenced grants.
The Council has said it will look at options to fund a permanent commissioning manager once the new commissioned service has been implemented.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
Reader's opinions
