LACK of skills has been blamed for the switch of work from Kent to India.

Kent Reliance Building Society has moved back office functions to the sub-continent, claiming workers in Bangalore are cheaper and more flexible.

But it also says that Indian workers are generally more efficient and have better social skills.

While Kent Reliance has not cut any jobs at its Chatham headquarters or in branches, work that might have gone to local workers is now handled in India.

The society, the fastest-growing in the country, has previously said that employing cheaper Indian workers was an essential way of capping the cost of growth.

But it has now emerged that if the skills available in abundance in India could be found in Medway or Kent, more work would stay in the county.

Mike Lazenby, chief executive of Kent Reliance Building Society, said that costs were not the only reason for taking work to India.

He had taken on local temporary workers but they were not an efficient use of resources. It took time to train them and they were often not as reliable as Indian workers.

They generally showed a stronger work ethic, their performance was generally better and they usually had greater social skills.

"This is a generalisation, but the work ethic is not so strong here as it is in other countries where if you don't work, you don't eat. It's easier not to work in the UK than in other countries that are less advantaged."

There were a lot of reasons but he cited the breakdown in family life and the social fabric of the culture.

"When you go to India, the values that we would have been proud of 30 years ago are still there," he said.

Some local temporary staff were very good, he said, but it was only "one in 20”.

"I could introduce you to three or four very good, very competent, very committed young people who have the skills, but there are not enough of them. If there were more people that we could rely on, we would keep them on."

Society investor Michael Nash, a Maidstone businessman, backed the society's decision to use Indian workers if the skills it needed were not available locally.

"The basic standard of numeracy, literacy and courtesies are simply not being fostered by the present system," he said. "Kent County Council should certainly look at the standard of education which should at least fit their charges to a sufficient standard to gain intelligent employment."

He had recently spoken to a call centre worker in India. "He was articulate, caring and courteous," Mr Nash said, addiing: "There are likely to be more jobs going to India while this lack of education and social skills persists."