Public sector bodies spend £440,000 every day on outside staff

SPENDING on agency staff by public bodies across Scotland soared by millions of pounds in just one year, The Scotsman has learned.

Figures obtained by The Scotsman reveal nearly 160 million of taxpayers' cash was used to cover the public sector agency staff bill.

The increase of more than 13m revealed in a freedom of information request comes at a time when front-line services are facing severe cuts.

Bodies such as Transport Scotland increased spending on agency workers from 2,194,131.21 to 3,616,615.50, while Historic Scotland's bill rocketed from 340,000 to 520,000. The overall public sector agency staff bill increase from 146.2m to 159.8m between 2007-08 and 2008-09 - at the height of the recession.

Other big increases during the year included Learning Teaching Scotland the body responsible for Scotland's new school system, Curriculum for Excellence, which increased its spending from 27,194 to 83,594.

The statistics also show the Additional Support for Learning budget has increased from 1,595.77 to 9,660.80 despite an announcement to delay the legislation's implementation to allow teachers to concentrate on the new curriculum.

Creative Scotland doubled its expenditure on agency workers to 145,180, while the Care Commission bill rose from 688,601.34 to 856,353.68.

Overall, the Scottish Government increased its spending on agency staff from 5,443,892.50 to 7,084,780.

Lib Dem finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis hit out over the agency employee costs. He said: "This is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of use of agency staff in the public sector.

"Appropriate and limited use of agencies to provide specialist support is, of course, necessary.

"Agency staff are more expensive than those working under contracts within the public sector.With public sector workers worried about losing their jobs and budgets tighter than ever, we really have to question the amount of money being spent on agency staff."

The Scottish Government and public bodies highlighted in the figures defended the use of agency staff as "cost-effective".

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Use of agency staff often enables public bodies to recruit skilled staff for a time-limited period in a more cost-effective way, rather than incurring the substantial costs of recruiting permanently."

A Learning Teaching Scotland spokeswoman said: "There was a significant increase in our activity in 2008-09 due to the publication and launch of the Curriculum for Excellence guidance."

Transport Scotland said costs "vary year to year depending on the needs of the business".

The National Library of Scotland said: "While our agency costs rose, there was a reduction in our payroll costs - meaning overall staff costs only increased by 0.28 per cent."

Historic Scotland claimed the increase in its costs was "mainly due to temporary staff covering full-time staff vacancies."

Creative Scotland said it had been forced to take on extra agency workers when it merged from the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

Rising Costs

HEALTH and police boards were among the bodies increasing their spending on agency workers.

Fife Police Board increased its expenditure on agency staff from 59,163.95 to 89,063.88 during the periods covered by the FOI.

The Scottish Police Services Authority increased its budget from 335,000 to 522,000.

NHS Borders increased its spending from 1.394 million to 1.455 million.

Other bodies increasing their budgets on agency staff included Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which went from 75,579 to 95,553.

The Scottish Court Service increased its spending on agency workers from 741,000 to 850,000.

There was also an increase at the Scottish Legal Aid Board from 518,083 to 603,776 during the same period.