City of York Council spends £3m on consultancy fees

Since April 2009, City of York Council has spent £2.8 million on outside consultants – during a period in which it is has been required to save £37 million.

The authority spent £1.3 million on consultants in 2009/10 and £1.15 million in 2010/11. Although it has reduced its expenditure, it has spent nearly £350,000 in the past eight months.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers in York will wonder if their council has missed the point when it comes to finding savings and reducing spending.

Local authorities should be reducing the money they are frittering away on external advisors, not stumping up hundreds of thousands of pounds for roles managers are already paid to do. When consultants are brought in to tackle waste and improve efficiency they should be paid by results, receiving a percentage of the cash they save for the council.”

Ian Gillies, leader of the council’s Conservative opposition group, said he was worried about the amount still being spent and said he would ask questions about it. He said: “I’m surprised and concerned regarding the total of consultancy fees.”

The council was required to save £5 million in 2009/10, £10 million in 2010/11, £21 million this year and £22 million over the next two financial years, with 600 to 650 council employees predicted to lose their jobs in the four years leading up to 2015.

The council insisted less was being spent on consultants this year and said it had been necessary to use consultants for specific expertise.

Kersten England, the council’s chief executive, said: “There are times when it is necessary to utilise external expertise; when we do not have the expertise internally or to ensure that the delivery of our services continues during unexpected short-term peaks in demand.

“This is always subject to the proper procurement processes and undertaken with value for money in mind.”

She said the council was on course to reduce its consultancy bill by about 50 per cent year on year, as part of its efforts to save £21 million.

The figures were released after The Press requested the details of consultants on which the council had spent more than £50,000 in the last three years.

Among the 14 consultants named, the biggest spend was on public-sector management consultants Amtec Consulting Plc which has received £1,009,875.

The organisation worked alongside V4 and Northgate Kendrick Ash (NKA) as part of the council’s More For York efficiency programme in a bid to save more than £15 million over a five-year period.

They were then asked to make more detailed business cases for a range of services with recommendations for a council-run team to take over in October 2009.

V4 has been paid £90,915 since April 2009 and NKA, which walked off the More for York job before it was finished, following a dispute with the council in 2009, has been paid more than £800,000 in total.

V4 has also helped the council as procurement specialists between February 2010 and July 2011, assisting with savings of £2.4 million, a council spokesman said.

Coun Julie Gunnell, Labour cabinet member for corporate services, said: “Since taking control of the council from the Lib Dems we have sought to rebalance the use of consultants and now only use them where absolutely necessary. A consultant can bring an area of expertise to very complicated or specialist projects, but their use should always be kept to a minimum and always provide value for money to the taxpayer.”