£8K a day on consultants

6:59am Monday 14th May 2007

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Town hall spending on private consultants has soared to almost £8,000 a day, an investigation by The Argus has revealed.

Brighton and Hove City Council paid £2.9 million to consultants in 2006 - 62 per cent more than in the 2004-05 financial year.

Critics say a "consultancy culture" has led to expensive firms being brought in when council staff could do the job.

The Conservatives, the largest group on the council following the local elections, have promised a review of payments to outside advisers under the ousted Labour administration.

Tory leader, Councillor Brian Oxley said: "It is one of the issues we have been raising over the past year and we're now looking at it very closely."

He said the use of consultants during the controversial ballot on the future of the city's housing stock had angered tenants and council taxpayers.

He said: "A lot of people felt money could have been spent on the work that needed doing on council properties.

"You clearly need to use consultants where specific expertise is required but I think there is a consultancy culture."

The council drew criticism from groups such as the North Laine Community Association and the Brighton Society over its use of London-based planning consultant Urban Initiatives last year.

The firm was brought in to report on the regeneration of the London Road and Lewes Road areas.

According to the residents' groups, its staff failed to show even a basic knowledge of the sites, their history and their importance in the city.

Tory councillor Ann Norman said details of spending under the Labour group had not always been easy for opposition councillors to scrutinise.

She said: "It is one of the things I know we plan to review - to look at it very closely and see what the money has been spent on. I believe we have officers in the council who would be perfectly capable of carrying out some of these consultations.

"There are examples where an awful lot of money has been spent, with no obvious benefit for the council taxpayer."

Coun Norman said the consultation over a park-andride scheme for Brighton had been particularly expensive.

Spending on consultants by councils across Sussex increased to more than £22.2 million last year.

But Lewes District Council's bill fell from more than £300,000 in 2004-05, to just £13,000 last year.

Council leader Ann de Vecchi said the amounts councils spent could vary according to the type of projects carried out.

She said in previous years work towards a housing stock transfer ballot in Lewes had been particularly expensive.

She said: "It can be the case that you're just not big enough to have in-house specialists to do the work.

"There are so many areas of specialist work and requirements from central government where you are, to some extent, compelled to employ consultants to give you advice."

East Sussex County Council almost doubled its bill, from £3.7 million in 2004-05 to £7.3 million in 2006.

Council leader Peter Jones said the figures included money spent on all private contractors, not just consultants.

West Sussex County Council's spending on consultants fell from £11.8 million to £8.6 million in the same period.

A spokesman said the money included spending on management consultancy, as well as contractors.