Government spent £5billion on temps and consultants in 2016 despite the ‘cap’ on public sector pay
Lib Dem chief Vince Cable describes it as a 'scandalous waste of public money'
A “SCANDALOUS” £5 billion was spent by Government departments on temps and consultants last year despite the ‘cap’ on public sector pay – the Sun can reveal.
A whopping £3.7 billion alone was forked out by the NHS and other health bodies on agency workers in 2016-2017.
And even the Home Office was forced to spend £25 million – up 25 per cent – on more temps to deal with a growing backlog of asylum claims and passport applications.
Across all departments, annual reports published in recent days reveal some 4,500 workers were brought on “off-payroll” on an eye-watering £220 a day or more – including 19 at the Treasury.
George Osborne moved to stop the BBC hiring “off payroll” workers because of fears top stars were using personal service companies to cut their tax bill.
The Department for Transport had more than 1,000 through Network Rail and 285 at HS2. But it also spent £7 millon on temps at the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency.
The total bill for consultants and temps across Whitehall was £4.9 billion.
Lib Dem chief Vince Cable said: “That government should be paying so much on off-payroll staff at a time of austerity is a scandalous waste of public money.
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“Everyone knows this costs a lot more money for the same labour and is an accountancy trick to make the wage bill look lower.”
He added: “The Government has to hire so many agency staff partly because of the Conservative refusal to end the public sector pay gap, which is making it exceptionally hard to attract and retain permanent staff.”
The Sun last week revealed claims from Border Force union chiefs that staff were so stretched Britain’s borders “aren’t secure”.
They claim Theresa May will need a further 3,000 staff to be ready for coming out of the customs union on Brexit in March 2019.
But unions and pay review bodies across Whitehall have warned that the 1 per cent cap on public sector pay since 2011 is causing huge problems in retaining workers and attracting new staff.
James Price, campaign manager at the Taxpayers Alliance, last night said: “For all the talk we’ve heard about a public sector pay cap, there’s still a shocking amount of taxpayers money being spent on agency and off-payroll workers.
“Too much is being spent on big salaries for those running dubious projects like HS2 and it’s time for departments to get a grip on these bills that are costing taxpayers are fortune.”
The Cabinet Office last night insisted the numbers of temporary staff had been in steady decline since 2014.”
A spokeswoman added: “We are committed to attracting, retaining and developing a highly skilled civil service and reducing the numbers of temporary staff.”