Lime Trust made significant savings on supply staffing by using the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) framework agreement – with the money saved being reinvested in its schools and pupils.
The multi-academy trust - which comprises four primary and five special schools across London, Luton and Peterborough - has benefitted from a more efficient and streamlined process with reduced expenditure through its partnership with Affinity Workforce Solutions.
The challengeBefore making the switch, the trust relied on 15 to 20 different supply agencies for supply staff, each charging its own rates with mark-ups of between 22% and 45%. This fragmented approach created serious financial and administrative pressures and delivered inconsistent candidate quality. The trust also found it challenging to budget effectively.
"We were spending far too much on supply staff, especially within our special schools,” said Ricky Barton, head of finance. “It wasn't until we reviewed the figures that we realised the full extent of what agencies were charging us."
The finance team was processing 15 to 20 invoices and making the same number of payments every week, with no centralised visibility of charge rates, pay rates or overall workforce performance.
Taking control through the GCA frameworkBy adopting a managed service model through the GCA Supply Teachers and Temporary Staff in Educational Establishments framework, the trust consolidated all supply staffing activity under one provider – Affinity Workforce Solutions.
This delivered immediate improvements in transparency, consistency, quality and value for money.
"This has made an incredible difference, as we can budget more effectively,” said Ricky. “The supply staff are also paid more, even though we are charged less, so better-quality candidates remain working on supply across our academies."
The trust now operates with a single point of contact for booking supply staff per Academy, and has access to an online platform that supports staff booking, timesheet approval, invoice visibility and management information (MI) reporting. Access to MI reporting has allowed the trust to review spend against budget, see the performance of the supply chain and allow for more effective workforce planning.
Significant financial savingsThe impact on the trust's finances has been substantial. Beyond day-to-day cost reductions, the trust has recruited more than 30 permanent staff via the temporary-to-permanent route available through the framework, saving nearly £100,000 in recruitment fees alone.
Those savings have been reinvested directly into schools and pupils.
"We've had some large capital issues with the buildings that we have had to fix,” said Ricky. “We've been able to react quickly to solve these issues. Some trusts do not have the reserves to be able to react to emergencies, but with the money we have saved, we have been able to protect our reserves position and be more reactive to spending when required.
“We’ve also been able to invest in outside spaces, which has positively improved the environment for the pupils. I believe, if we invest in the environment and make an engaging and enriched space that our pupils are proud of, then engagement in learning will improve.”
A lasting impactFollowing the success of the initial contract, Lime Trust has renewed its arrangement for a further two years.
"The improvements to the quality of supply staff, the consolidation of processes and the cost savings we've made have made such an enormous impact," said Ricky.
A new GCA framework agreement, Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment (STeER), is now available which offers even more benefits to schools and trusts by placing a cap on agency mark-up.
From September 2026, academy trusts must use the new framework unless they have an alternative compliant arrangement with rates that do not exceed those available through the framework.
seen at 10:45, 16 July in Buying for Schools.