'Shocking waste' - more than £78m spent on agency staff in schools

ASH-STRAPPED councils across Wales are spending tens of millions of pounds on agency supply staff in schools.

- By ABBIE WIGHTWICK

Local authorities forked out more than £78m on agency staff in the 2023-24 school year at the same time schools warned they were struggling to balance their books.

The vast bill, described as "a shocking waste of money" by one teaching union, comes at the same time as a teacher recruitment crisis and redundancies with schools struggling to balance their books.

The figures were revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Welsh Conservatives.

The £78,607,409 bill was racked up by 16 out of Wales' 22 councils for agency staff for supply teachers and teaching assistants during 2023/24.

Cardiff, Wales' largest education authority and council, spent more than £20m on agency staff in 2023-24.

Of the 22 councils, 16 responded to Freedom of Information requests, while six either failed to respond or said that they do not collect this data, the Welsh Conservatives said.

The party says the millions spent on supply teaching would be better invested in retaining and recruiting quality teachers for the long term, rather than relying on "the short-term fix of turning to supply agencies".

Welsh Conservative shadow education secretary Natasha Asghar MS said: “The staggering costs incurred by councils across Wales on agency staff makes it difficult to see any value for money from the taxpayers' perspective.

"There are over 40 supply-teaching companies in Wales, which shows the profitability of the industry and is a symptom of the perpetual failure by Labour to fill staff vacancies and improve retention in our schools.