CASH-STRAPPED Somerset County Council has defended paying out just under £1,000 for a hired executive. 

The authority has defended the temporary recruitment of Sue Rogers as the interim deputy director of education, a post she took up in June and is due to finish in September.

Ms Rogers, who was the director of Education Quality and Standards at Kent County Council, is on an astonishing £864 per day plus £100 expenses per day, working in the role four days a week.

It means over the three months she will be paid more than £40,000 and while the county council expect to have a permanent position in the post by September, she could be there until Christmas.

Ms Rogers has been appointed to support Julian Wooster, the director of Children's Services at Somerset County Council.

Her post comes in response to a damning Ofsted report in March, when Somerset County Council's Children's Services was rated "inadequate".

The report said there had been a "corporate failure" to keep children safe and since then the county council has been doing all it can to turn services around, including creating a new scrutiny committee and pledging to recruit more social workers.

A spokesperson for the county council said they felt that children "should not wait" for improvements.

They added: "The deputy director of education role was identified earlier this year in order to support our ambitious improvement plans for Children’s Services in Somerset. We feel that children should not wait.

"Therefore, while recruitment for a permanent member of staff was underway, a very capable interim was brought in to tackle some of the education issues identified across the county immediately."

But there has been backlash over how much Ms Rogers is being paid for her role - which includes reviewing the authorities strategy and policies for school improvement.

Liberal Democrat cllr Simon Coles said while no-one disagreed that children should wait, he questioned the spending of large amounts of money at a time when the council is trying to make savings.

He said: "Absolutely everybody would agree that the children should not wait, we want what is best for our children but I don't think that spending almost double what a person in this position would usually be paid, is the best way to go about it.

"We must have the right people in place for the services, especially after another appalling Ofsted report.

"How can we make savings when we're spending this amount, that money will surely have to be taken from elsewhere in the budget and could mean other services are now at risk.

"I am not suggesting that Ms Rogers is in anyway deficient in her role but I think many people will be questioning the spending of this money."

Somerset County Council said the post was absolutely temporarily and that as Ms Rogers is employed by an agency, the cost to the authority includes agency fees and other expenses.

A spokesperson added: "We expect to recruit a permanent person to the post in September.

"We have received numerous applications, from a strong field of candidates, who have heard about our improvement journey and want to be part of what we are doing here in Somerset.

“We cannot comment on the future salary of anyone who is recruited permanently to the role as this will be based on skills and experience.”