Cash spent on agency staff by Corby Council – a total of about £30,000 a month – is to go on permanent, full-time jobs.

In a move the authority hopes other employers in the town will follow, it is to recruit 10 new employees and offer one new apprenticeship each year for the next five.

The positions will include three senior technical posts, two administration staff, three multi-skilled trade positions, an electrician and a painter, as well as the five trade apprenticeships.

Council leader Tom Beattie said: “I would urge other employers to carry out a similar review of their budget for agency workers and consider whether there is a different way of doing things which will create secure employment and be more cost effective.”

The new scheme is the result of a review conducted by deputy leader of the council Mark Pengelly.

It revealed that the bill for agency staff employed by the council was rising.

He said: “It’s important to find secure employment for people.

“We hope by converting this agency spending into full-time employment opportunities it will be the start of helping to create much-needed full-time jobs in the town.

“We are asking all companies to look at converting long-term agency spending into full-time jobs.”

The move by Corby Council comes at a time when fears are growing over the security of jobs in the town after the announcements last month that Argos is shedding 440 core workers and in the region of 300 agency staff, Tata Steel is axing a further 110 staff and the Eddie Stobart depot is closing.

Solway Foods, in Godwin Road, Corby, has also revealed it may have to make workers redundant as it struggles in difficult market conditions.

Council leaders have vowed to do all they can to mitigate the jobs crisis and are to lobby the Government for Corby to be given Enterprise Zone status.

Cllr Beattie said: “Over a period of time agency staff were appointed to do work that needed to be carried out. We have focused on this spending on agency staff in the last year and it became clear that the money would be better spent on secure, full-time positions.

“The council is taking the lead on this and we would like other employers to follow.”

The new positions will be advertised in April.

Jobcentre bosses have given their backing for a new £50m shopping park which would provide 1,630 jobs.

The Rushden Lakes proposal for the Skew Bridge site, off the A45, has been welcomed by managers of the Wellingborough and Rushden Jobcentres, who say it could transform the area.

Some people have expressed fear s for the future of Kettering and Wellingborough town centres if the scheme goes ahead.

If it is approved by East Northamptonshire Councillors in June, the development would include 20 new shops, a garden centre, a drive-through restaurant, a gatehouse, a lakeside visitor centre, restaurants, a boat house and a lock.

Work created would include 290 construction jobs during the building phase and 1,340 retail jobs.

Wellingborough and Rushden JobCentre figures show there are more than enough applicants locally to fill these positions, with a total of 3,387 jobless people across the towns – 1,113 in Rushden and 2,274 in Wellingborough – and that 1,114 have expressed a specific interest in working in the retail industry, while 228 require construction work.

Alan Gordon-Smith, manager of Rushden Jobcentre Plus, said: “There is no question that between ourselves and the Wellingborough JobCentre Plus, we have the skills and capacity to supply Rushden Lakes with a significant amount of fit-for-purpose labour should the scheme progress.”

Sonia Rea, manager of Wellingborough Jobcentre Plus, added: “A scheme like Rushden Lakes could have a transformational effect on Wellingborough as well as Rushden.

“The Rushden and Wellingborough offices will work together to capture the potentially significant local employment benefits to our areas.”

Gavin Stollar, spokesman for LXB Retail Properties, the company behind the development, said: “If the Rushden Lakes scheme were to proceed, the employment benefits not only to Rushden and Wellingborough but also to the surrounding north Northamptonshire towns would be significant.

“We are working to ensure that the employment and economic benefits are captured in Rushden, Wellingborough and the surrounding areas.

“It is clear that there are the people locally to fill the jobs we hope to create.”

Val Barham, of Tennyson Road, Rushden, said: “I definitely agree that it will be a big boost to the area. A lot of people were made redundant when the shoe factories closed, and a lot of people still haven’t got jobs.”

Steve Purcell, of Northampton Road, Kettering, said: “The jobs have got to be a welcome relief. We’ve just lost all those jobs in Corby so it has got to be good for the area.

“It will be nice to see something done with that site because it has been an eyesore. I’m not sure whether or not it will be good for the town centres.”

Eileen Burnett, of Wellingborough, said: “If they keep to their word and provide the amount of jobs they say they are going to provide then I think it will be a good thing for the jobs market.

“I think it will be nice to have all those shops on our doorstep.”

Jobcentre bosses say plans for a new shopping centre could be the biggest boost to the jobs market since the decline of the shoe industry.

The £50m Rushden Lakes development would bring a total of 1,630 jobs if it is given the go-ahead by East Northamptonshire Council.

Jobcentre bosses in Wellingborough and Rushden say the scheme would help employ the 3,387 jobless people across the two towns, and those further afield in Corby and Kettering.

Sonia Rea, manager of Wellingborough Jobcentre Plus, said: “This scheme could be the ‘shot-in-the-arm’ that north Northamptonshire has been waiting for following the demise of our shoe and leather industry.”

Alan Gordon-Smith, manager of Rushden Jobcentre Plus, said: “While the Rushden Lakes proposal is obviously potentially very good news for Rushden and Wellingborough, the positive employment impact on neighbouring Corby and Kettering should also not be understated.”

A group of councillors want a dossier on why the Corby Cube ran at least £10m over budget to be made public.

However, the ruling Labour group says the report will not be made fully public because of legal concerns.

The report, which runs into hundreds of pages, was commissioned by Corby Council after Conservative councillors expressed concerns about The Cube, including its cost.

A cross-party sub-committee of the overview and scrutiny panel was convened and members have spent months interviewing people about the multi-million pound project.

Their report was made available to all borough councillors yesterday and the Conservative group immediately called for it to be made public.

A statement from leader of the Conservative group David Sims, and councillors Rob McKellar, Stan Heggs and Ray Lilley, to council leader Tom Beattie, said: “As the official opposition on Corby Borough Council, tasked with holding the administration to account and ensuring that the best interests of the public are served, the Conservative group demand that you release a full and unedited copy of the Corby Cube Scrutiny Report to the general public and to the relevant authorities.

“People in the borough of Corby have a right to know how their taxes are spent and how their council is operating.

“There has been an overspend of £10 million on the Corby Cube project and we consider it to be totally unacceptable for the Labour administration to be hiding the details and reasons behind the overspend from the public.

“This is yet another cover-up from Corby Borough Council and is frankly an affront to transparency and open government.”

Corby Council leader Tom Beattie, said the full council will now have to consider the report along with any recommendations the review group has made and what action the council needs to take now.

He said: “The report contains commercially, financially and legally sensitive information and as such it would be irresponsible for the report to be issued in full as this decision could have detrimental implications to both the council and the taxpayers of Corby.

“Although the full report will not be issued, the review group has decided to issue a summary report to the press and public once councillors have had the opportunity to discuss the outcomes.”

Cllr Beattie said the review group took legal advice and was told that its findings should not be made available to members of the public.

The experts said the decision was justified on the grounds that information was given on a confidential basis by those interviewed about The Cube.

They say that without a confidentiality agreement, full and frank views may not have been given to the panel.

The review group was also advised that making the full report public could prejudice the outcome of potential litigation or adjudications related to disputes between the council, its building contractors and the professional team.

The council is paying £178,000 interest on the overspend on the Cube, which opened in November 2010.

A year ago the council revealed that the cost of the Cube had hit £41.6m, about £5m over budget, but in June that figure was revised and the council said there would need to be further borrowing of £5.5m to fund the building, bringing the total overspend to £10.5m.

The planned rooftop garden and the bistro at The Cube have never opened.