“This over-reliance on agency staff will come at significant cost to the Executive’s budget at a time when they are under significant pressure.”
Stormont’s use of agency staff has increased in the last two years(Image: Rebecca Black/PA Wire)
An MLA has hit out at what he described as an “unsustainable” increase in the use of agency staff in the Civil Service after figures revealed a jump of almost 2000 agency staff between 2023 and 2025.
The figures, which were released by the Department of Finance in response to a written Assembly question by SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan.
Mr McCrossan had asked the Minister to detail the number of agency staff on assignment in the Civil Service, in each of the last three years, broken down by Department.
The figures showed that as of 31 March 2023, there were 2,975 agency staff working across the departments. This jumped to 4,939 by 31 March 2025.
The majority of agency staff were employed by the Department for Communities, with 3,729, which has increased from 1,971 in 2023.
There were also 308 agency staff in the Department of Justice (up from 212 in 2023) and 338 in DAERA (up from 255 in 2023).
The Department for the Economy, the Department of Health and the PPS are the only bodies to have recorded a decrease in the use of agency staff in this period.
SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan said: “An increase in almost 2,000 agency staff in just two years by Executive departments is totally unsustainable. The Department for Communities, in particular, is massively reliant on agency staff with an 89% increase in just two years. Justice and DAERA have also seen significant jumps raising serious questions for those Ministers about how they run their departments.
“This over-reliance on agency staff will come at significant cost to the Executive’s budget at a time when they are under significant pressure. It shows a total lack of workforce planning and a failure to properly recruit for the roles that need filled to keep this place running.
“I would urge Executive Ministers to move away from using costly agency staff and launch a recruitment drive that provides certainty for both staff and services. This is no way to run any government.”
The Department for Communities have been contacted to provide comment on their significant increase in the use of agency staff, but a response has not been received by the time of publication.
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