Schools in the Black Country and Staffordshire spent more than £19.4 million on temporary staff and supply teachers last year, new figures reveal.

Casual workers were used to cover sickness absences and maternity leave — to ensure pupils did not miss vital lessons — while some schools employed agency staff to help with exams and recruitment.

But the spending has come under fire from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, which said the money would be better spent on employing more permanent staff.

Walsall schools racked up the highest bill in the Black Country for agency staff,  spending £5,395,274.

In Dudley, £2,734,782, was spent. Lynda Donaldson, headteacher at Kates Hill Primary School in Peel Street, Kates Hill, Dudley, said: “We use supply staff to cover both illness and when staff go out on courses.

“They are a really important resource and we wouldn’t be able to manage without them.”

Schools in Wolverhampton paid out £2,268,248 on classroom help and in Sandwell, £1,085,244 was spent on temporary staff.

The 400 schools across Staffordshire spent a total of £7,937,000.

Spending has fallen since 2005/06 when the bill in the Black Country and Staffordshire was £31m.

But Fiona McEvoy of the West Midlands Taxpayers’ Alliance branded last year’s outlay as an “unnecessary cost for taxpayers.”

“This practice is making a dent in schools’ budgets and diverting money away from much needed educational resources,” she said.