Coventry City Council pays £3.4 million to outside experts
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:18 pm
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Dec 7 2009 by Les Reid, Coventry Telegraph
COVENTRY City Council is spending a staggering £3.4m of taxpayers’ money this year to hire expensive external consultants for expert advice on conducting its work.
Council figures obtained by the Telegraph show the bill for 2009/10 has soared from last year’s £2.4m - bringing the total payout over five years to £12.4million.
The figures reveal the huge cost to council taxpayers for consultants’ work where council managers feel there is not enough expertise in-house to do it themselves.
Hired consultants are advising the council on anything from recruiting social workers and implementing health improvement programmes, to investigating allegations of lewd behaviour made against ex-Lord Mayor Andy Matchet, to making budget cuts through “efficiency savings”.