Army of temp workers costs millions

The vast army of temporary workers propping up the civil service has been revealed.

The burgeoning "shadow" civil service cost taxpayers hundreds of millions last year and meant a bonanza for recruitment agencies supplying secretaries and administrativeworkers. Many departmentssay they need extra staff to handle increasing workloads.

But the scale of dependence on temporary workers raises questions about government efficiency and new doubts over Chancellor Gordon Brown's plans to cut 80,000 civil service jobs.

The spending figures emerged after written parliamentary questions were tabled by Tories and Liberal Democrats. The Home Office alone spent ?56.5million between 2002 and 2003 - compared to ?11.7million in 2000. Paperwork generated by asylum and immigration applications and appeals accounted for half the cost.

If the Home Office figures are representative, and bearing in mind that there are nine other similarly-sized government departments and agencies, the total temporary staff bill could top half a billion.

Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor said: "These figures are extraordinary. Agency staff are much more expensive than permanent employees. The suspicion is that the Government is cutting back on permanent workers to look good and taking on temporary staff to do the work."

Twelve Whitehall departments revealed how much they spent. Others - such as the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Work and Pensions - said they could not provide figures.

Temporary workers were brought in to cover for permanent staff who were sick or on holiday, and for clearing work backlogs. The average public-sector worker took a record two weeks off sick last year.

The Department of Health spent ?15.1million on agency staff last year, while the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spent ?12 million. At the Department of Trade and Industry 10 per cent of workers are temps - costing ?5.2 million last year. Five other departments are likely to have spent similar sums.

The Prime Minister's Office alone saw a 66 per cent rise in the number of temps.

Even the Department of Transport, with less than 1,000 workers, spent almost ?3 million.

Several departments have defended their use of agency staff. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "It is entirely appropriate for the department to use employment agencies to cover short-term projects or staff vacancies."