Surrey County Council's spending on agency staff soared by £2.5million last year with some temporary staff earning more than double their full-time colleagues.

Your Local Guardian:

The council spent more than £13million on agency staff in the last financial year – £2.5million more than its agency bill for 2014/15.

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In one case, an IT manager from an agency was paid a pro rata salary of £105,750 – more than double the rate of a counterpart permanent staff member.

A county council spokesman said the rise in agency spending was largely due to £2million of funding set aside to recruit more permanent social workers.

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But Councillor Eber Kington (pictured above), who represents Ewell Court, Auriol and Cuddington, believes reducing agency spending is necessary in order to allocate more funds to public services such as libraries and schools.

He also criticised the council’s "appalling" failure to decide a definitive approach to handling temporary staff and managing their usage and cost.

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Despite an internal audit in September 2014 highlighting the need to cuts its agency bill, Surrey County Council (SCC) has not yet put in place guidelines on how to better manage its spending.

Cllr Kington said: “I think that is appalling. That should have been one of the first things (we did).

“That money is seeping out to pay the agency staff, when it could be used to pay for other services.

“We have to carry that burden of £13million on agency staff.”

The Council Overview Board – a panel which scrutinises the council’s services and budgets – received an update on SCC’s agency staffing on Wednesday, July 6.

A document seen by board members read: “There is currently no policy in place that guides the use of agency workers.

“There are expectations that agency workers are used as a temporary or measure of last resort.”

The board will receive a further update on agency spending and usage in November.

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Cllr Kington (pictured above) said: “We will want to see that there has been progress in reducing the number of agency staff and in reducing the cost.”

A county council spokesman said: “We support vulnerable children and adults across Surrey and the number needing our help is rising at a time when our funding from the Government is being reduced and there are national shortages of social workers.

“We're taking a series of steps to recruit more of our own staff such as launching a children's social worker recruitment campaign and doubling the size of our social worker academy to help us grow our own workforce.”

From June 2015: "Widespread and serious failures" in protecting troubled children by Surrey County Council, says damning Ofsted report

The council launched a £2million-drive last month to hire more children’s social workers last month, in which prospective recruits would be offered up to £15,000 to work for the council.

For more information, visit https://news.surreycc.gov.uk/2016/06/22/surrey-launches-drive-to-recruit-more-childrens-social-workers/