A COUNCIL has defended its position after being criticised for employing almost 400 people on controversial zero-hour contracts.

Figures revealed following a request under the Freedom of Information Act show that Darlington Borough Council has 393 people on zero-hour contracts, a figure which UKIP’s North-East Euro MP Jonathan Arnott branded shameful.

Zero-hour, or casual, contracts allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work and often without sick pay or pension benefits.

Labour has pledged to crackdown on their use and improve rights for workers.

A Darlington Borough Council spokeswoman said the authority only uses the contracts for seasonal workers and not full-time employees, but Mr Arnott claims they could be seen as exploitative.

He said: “The Labour politicians which lead Darlington council should feel completely and utterly ashamed.

“These shocking statistics are prevalent not only in our region, but in Labour-led councils right across the country.

“I do understand that these contracts can be a necessary evil for some small businesses, which are not yet at the stage where they can gauge the amount of work required from one week to the next.

“But big corporations, which our political class cosy up to, use zero hour contracts on a basis which can often lead to the exploitation of workers.”

Figures released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development last year suggested that the national figure for zero hours contracts is around one million.

Pro-rata, that would indicate about 39,000 North East workers on zero-hour contracts.

Mr Arnott said: “As leader of the Labour party [Tony] Blair promised that a Labour government would see an end to zero-hour contracts.

“Twenty years on, Labour MPs and Labour-led councils are still using them collectively in their thousands.”

Mr Arnott said this left Labour with “zero credibility” on the zero-hour contract issue.

Elizabeth Davison, assistant director for finance and human resources at Darlington Borough Council, defended the authority’s use of the contracts.

She said: “We only use zero-hour contracts for casual employees where the individual has the choice of whether to work when the work is offered, this gives both sides some flexibility.

“We use casual workers as an additional resource to our permanent staff to cover sickness or holidays or to cope with particularly busy periods.

“If any casual work becomes regular, an individual is paid the benefits that are associated with the role.”