TEMPORARY council staff have cost taxpayers across south Essex more than £74million over the past five years.

Southend, Basildon and Thurrock councils have spent £74.3million on agency staff and consultants since 2010-11, the Echo can reveal.

The councils insist temporary workers are essential for covering sickness and completing short-term projects.

But unions and campaigners accuse the authorities of forcing workers onto insecure contracts.

Tim Sneller, chairman of Southend Unison’s local government branch, said: “We are always concerned if there are areas where we are relying on agency staff. It reflects a number of issues. It suggests we are failing to recruit and retain people, and we want to see local authorities take responsibility for that.

“They should pay people the right amount for the job they do and provide the right training.

“Another problem is agency workers can be used in situations where the council wants to pick and choose, taking people on and getting rid of them when it wants.”

Thurrock Council, which as a unitary authority is responsible for all services in its area, had the biggest bill, spending a whopping £32.8million on agency staff and £9.5million on consultants since 2010.

Southend Council, also unitary, spent about £4million per year on temporary staff, racking up a £20million bill in five years.

Even Basildon Council, which leaves many expensive services, such as adult social care, schools and roads to Essex County Council, spent £12.7million and tiny Castle Point Council expects to spend £600,000 this financial year alone.

The county council was the second biggest spender on agency staff in the country, forking out £133.5million since 2010, the Echo revealed last week.

A Thurrock Council spokesman said: “The council aims to keep the use of agency staff to a minimum, advocating the permanent employment of the workforce where possible.

“Our spend on agency staff represents around 10 to 12 per cent of staff costs and agency staff are only used where it has not proved possible to recruit and retain permanent staff, or where the requirement for the work is short term.”

A Southend Council spokesman said: “Many agency staff are actually social workers, or care home staff working on the frontline.

“As with many large organisations, we often need to fill a position at short notice and that would involve the use of agency staff.

“This can be for a range of reasons including during periods of recruitment when we need to ensure a post is filled temporarily, or to ensure vital front-line services such as adult social care or children’s services are delivered to residents, during spells of sickness, for example.”

A Basildon Council spokesman said consultants were used to provide expertise not already in its workforce. The spokesman added: “Like agency staff, they are used to provide flexibility where there is a specific need but where it would not be economical to recruit additional staff.”