Murdo has slammed “shocking” new figures revealing the amount Fife Council are spending on social care overtime and agency staff.
Responses to Freedom of Information requests from the Scottish Conservatives show that almost £400 million has been spent by councils in the last five years to plug staffing gaps.
The true figure could be even higher as not all councils responded to the requests for information.
In Fife, a total £17,256,526 was spent on agency staff while the region incurred overtime costs of £7,622,561.
Murdo says that social care in Fife is in crisis on the SNP’s watch and staff are completely overwhelmed. The Scottish Conservative politician says the SNP squandered £30 million on their doomed national care service plan, which would have been better spent on local care provision.
He added that the SNP need to stop squandering money and ensure that social care staff do not constantly have to work more hours, and that cash-strapped councils do not have to pay more and more in agency costs.
Commenting, Murdo said: “These shocking figures show how the SNP has allowed social care services in Fife to fall into crisis.
“Cash-strapped councils such as Fife are already dealing with the consequences of brutal SNP cuts to their budget year after year.
“They do not have the resources to be spending millions paying staff overtime or bringing in agency workers to fill the gaps.
“Staff are already completely overwhelmed without having to work even more hours.”
Murdo continued: “The SNP Government need to stop squandering money on bureaucracy and instead spend every spare penny on frontline care. Staff in Fife Council cannot continue to be asked to go the extra mile, while paying this much in agency fees is unsustainable.
“These costs must come down, and the money saved used by local social care providers to bring in more in-house, permanent staff.”
