COUNTY council bosses have hit back over claims it is wasting money on agency staff.

The GMB union last week released figures showing Lancashire County Council spent £6.3million on agency and temporary staff in 2007/08.

Union bosses said authorities were using "cheap temps" to avoid properly training permanent staff.

But Coun Tom Burns, cabinet member for organisational development, branded the claim "ridiculous".

He said: "We only use agency staff when absolutely necessary and negotiate rates with the agencies to get good value for money.

"But we absolutely have a need for temporary social workers and care staff to provide frontline services for vulnerable people when cover is needed.

"The suggestion that we only use agency staff to avoid training our own is ridiculous."

County Hall was given top marks by government inspectors for its use of resources, he added.

The council hires a company to negotiate rates with agencies on its behalf which has delivered significant savings.

It employs 20,000 permanent staff, not including teachers, said HR director Carol Mills, but would always have a need for agency workers for specific pieces of work including road and school building.

She added: "These arrangements provide very good value for money as we don't have the ongoing costs of pensions and accommodation overheads or the cost of a lengthy recruitment process. "

Describing councils' expenditure on agency staff last week, Paul McCarthy, GMB Regional Secretary for the North West, said: "Too many councils are using cheap temps when they should be recruiting permanent staff who can be properly trained and given the experience that is necessary to provide quality local services."