Temporary social workers are being paid as much as £620 a day by Kent County Council to plug vacant posts in its troubled special needs and disabilities department for vulnerable young children, it has emerged.

Figures obtained by KentOnline reveal how the authority has spent spiralling sums on agency staff over the last four years in the face of a recruitment crisis across the sector.

The data shows the highest daily rate has risen from £480 in 2019-20 to £570 in 2021-22 and to £620 this year - a 30.2% increase.

That contrasts with the average daily rate for supply teachers of about £130.

When it comes to the number of temporary staff, that too has spiralled. Figures released to KentOnline under the Freedom of Information Act show that this year alone, 143 agency staff are on the authority’s books and the wage bill, to date, has topped more than £2m.

That is almost double the number taken on in the previous year, when 76 were recruited at a cost of close to £2.5m

In 2020-21, the number of agency staff was just 33 at a cost of £687,133 and in 2019-20, 36 temporary staff were recruited at a cost of £298,014.

The county council appears to recognise that its reliance on agency staff is not sustainable.

In a report on how the cash-strapped authority plans to plug a £60.9m hole in its finances with a raft of measures, it sets out plans to “explore strategies, including statutory guidance, to reduce dependency on social work agency staff” that could save it £1m a year.

Ofsted recently issued a damning report on the county council’s services for children with special needs and disabilities (SEND).

It found that the weaknesses it had identified in an earlier inspection in 2019 remained in nine areas and had not been adequately addressed.

The stresses of the profession are leading to many social workers deciding to quit.

A survey by Unison earlier this year revealed nearly half (49%) of social workers said they were less likely to stay in their jobs due to excessive workloads, high stress levels and low morale.

And in further evidence of social workers deciding to leave, Ofsted reported in the year to September 2021, 9% of all councils' children social workers left the sector, up from 7% the previous year.

A KCC spokesperson said: “The top rate quoted was to obtain the services of a highly qualified and scarce educational psychologist, brought in to help bring down the waiting time for assessments, which is one of the main concerns for the SEND service.”