Darlington Borough Council has hit back at criticism after it spent more than £14k advertising for a director of children and adult services via public sector recruiter GatenbySanderson.

The council defended its use of recruitment agencies in order to exhaust all avenues for candidates with the right “skills, knowledge and experience”.

Regional newspaper The Northern Echo, using a Freedom of Information request, learned the council had spent £14k on advertising the post that commands a salary of between £97k and £115.7k.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of pressure group TaxPayers' Alliance, told the paper “wasteful” council spending such as this needed to be reined in, adding the use of costly headhunters was “unnecessary”.

But defending its use of agencies, a spokesperson for Darlington Borough Council said in a statement that to attract candidates with the right skills, knowledge and experience it was necessary to incur these costs with an external recruitment agency to ensure the role was advertised in an appropriate publication.

The statement added: “There is a great deal of demand nationally for highly experienced and motivated individuals to work in this kind of demanding role, and it is important that we use all avenues to make sure that potential candidates are aware of this opportunity.”

Recruiter contacted GatenbySanderson for comment but had not heard back by deadline.

• Want to comment on this story? The Comment box is at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the glitch but just scroll right down and share your opinions!