Expert cash-savers called in to save council money - but cost £1.2m
Published: 2010-06-15 09:09:34
Derby City Council is spending £1.2 million on a team of consultants… to help it save money.
(Sourced from Derby Telegraph.)
The authority says it needs the advisors to help bring in major structural changes – including shedding 465 jobs or 10% of its workforce – with the aim of saving £32 million over the next three years.
But union leaders have blasted the move, describing it as a consultants' "feeding frenzy" and claiming that it demonstrates a lack of expertise among the council's senior management.
Initial work to identify where savings could be found was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers under a Government initiative, which meant the £110,000 cost was picked up by regional Government bodies.
But the council then agreed to hire PricewaterhouseCoopers to help with the rest of the process – even though it would have to fund the £1.2 million cost.
It said that support was "vital" to the transformation programme.
Councillor Sean Marshall, cabinet member for resources, said: "It's important that we get exactly the right people to work with us to deliver these savings and the consultants are giving us the skills and expertise to do this."
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