MILLIONS of pounds spent by Warwickshire Police on agency staff has been described as “a scandal” by a would-be Police and Crime Commissioner.
It follows a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Philip Seccombe who is the Conservative candidate for the post in Warwickshire.
It revealed since 2012 Warwickshire has spent a total of £6.3million on temporary and agency staff.
In 2012/2013 the cost of recruiting non-permanent staff was 1.2million with the following two years seeing increases of millions.
The highest cost by year was in 2013/2014 when £2.7million was paid out. Last year the cost was £2.3million.
The force could not reveal the number of people hired for the cost or for which specific departments.
Mr Seccombe said: “It is a scandal that millions of taxpayers’ cash have been spent on temporary staff working in back room roles.
“This unacceptable news comes shortly after a Government report which said the force had to do more to protect the vulnerable in Warwickshire from harm.
“Frontline policing and helping victims of crime should always take priority over fattening offices and departments.”
