A Welsh Conservative investigation has uncovered that 16 out of 22 councils in Wales have incurred staggering costs of £78,607,409 on agency staff for supply teachers and teaching assistants during 2023/24. Of the 22 councils, 16 responded to Freedom of Information requests, while six either failed to respond or do not collect this data. Additionally, the Labour Welsh Government does not track this reported spending by local authorities.
There is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Wales, with a recent ESTYN report highlighting that there has been a negative impact on education standards due to a decrease in teacher recruitment. Additionally, the ESTYN report also highlighted that a lack of "high-quality teaching" taking place in schools, something that a hefty supply teacher bill will not remedy.
The Welsh Conservatives argue that 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.
Commenting on the expenditure, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education 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 currently 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.
“Rather than wasting millions of taxpayers’ money on agency staff to fill gaps they’ve failed to address, the Labour Welsh Government must urgently deliver a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan.”
