Agency Staff Savings

The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have for many years regularly suggested that the County Council could make significant savings by reducing its reliance on costly agency staff by reducing the number of agency staff and using its own directly-employed staff instead. At last someone has listened.

The potential for the County Council to make significant savings on agency staff was confirmed in a recent report to the Cabinet at County Hall. The report revealed that the Council currently spends £13.5 million per year on agency workers. The report states that a reduction in "avoidable" agency costs of £294,000 could be achieved this year and that £588,000 could be saved each year for the next three years.

Cllr Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, said: "The Conservative administration has finally acknowledged that the County Council is spending too much money on agency staff. However, if they had acted sooner, millions of pounds of savings could have been achieved without cutting front line services."