Spending on agency staff rose by 42% at just one central government agency despite a public sector recruitment freeze, Recruiter can reveal.

According to figures on its own website, agency spending at the UK Trade and Investment Agency rose from £52,111.85 in May to £73,822.40 in September.

Last week the Guardian newspaper calculated that central government spending on agency staff rose by 65% between May and September.

However, David Law of Morgan Law, told Recruiter that his experience was “the complete opposite”.

“Clearly there has been a lot of cost cutting as agencies have been one of the areas where the government can identify efficiency savings,” said Law.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told Recruiter: “A lot of spending is likely to have been under the previous government” and that the figures might be explained by the time taken to pay agencies.