Union criticises £54m temps spend

Council officials in Lincolnshire claim a report which says the county is the top spender on temporary staff in England is misleading.

The report, carried out by union GMB, said Lincolnshire County Council spent £54m on temporary staff in 2006/7.

But Judith Davids from the county council said the figures included supply teachers and retained firefighters, making them "misleading".

A GMB spokesman said far too much money was being spent in this way.

"We want the county council to use proper controls," said Andy Worth from GMB.

"We are more than prepared, on behalf our membership, to sit down with the county...to get proper planning, proper staffing and therefore you end up with a better service because the existing employees can be trained."

Distortion

But Ms Davids, assistant director for people and modernisation, said: "These figures and the league table are misleading.

"Lincolnshire's figure for the cost of using temporary staff also included other staff such as supply teachers in schools and retained firefighters, information which has not been included in other authorities' figures and which will therefore distort the league table.

"These members of staff are not temporary staff but those that are permanently retained to cover for absences. The true picture would show that we only spend 0.5% of our council budget...on temporary staff."

Thirty one authorities did not respond to the request for information from the GMB.

But Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary added: "The point is that this is more than just filling in gaps. On this scale it is a deliberate scam. Too many councils are using cheap temps when they should be recruiting permanent staff who can be properly trained..."