ALEX SCAPENS
CASH-STRAPPED Stockport Council has been blasted for spending £3m on consultants in the last three years.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act show the authority spent £1.28m in 2015-16, £1.28m in 2014-15 and £542,000 in 2013-14 on ‘consultancy and advisory’ services.
Among the expenditure is £10,000 to task various companies to come up with a name for the cinema development at Bridgefields – they came up with Redrock, after the big red rock near the site.
And £13,000 was handed over to Peter Brett Associates for advice on how best to run its environmental services. The 18 page report said to keep using Solutions SK.
It comes at a time when the council has repeatedly emphasised the need for cuts and the 2015/16 budget was slashed by £22m, the largest amount ever.
Adam Burns, from Cheadle, submitted the FoI request after he was incensed by council plans to make black bin collections every three weeks at the end of last year.
The cost-saving plan has since been scrapped but he said: “I think it’s pretty outrageous. They go on about cuts to vital things like social care and then spend £1.2m a year on consultants.
“It is quite a lot of money and when I heard about the plans for bin collections I wanted to know how much the council wasted on things like consultants.
“I’d next like to know how much the council spends on marketing with things like glossy leaflets and adverts on buses, it’s all for show.”
Other money spent includes £30,000 to Peter Brett Associates for a viability study into whether the council should adopt the community infrastructure levy.
WSP were also paid to help devise a masterplan for Stockport train station to help improve services and connectivity.
And money was spent for an outside body to come up with the name Aurora for the industrial estate in Cheadle Heath that is currently under construction.
During the period the FoI request refers to the Liberal Democrats ran Stockport Council, until May last year when Labour became the largest party.
Wendy Wild, deputy council leader, said: “Most of these spending decisions were made before we took over as a Labour Executive. Since that time, we have made efforts to keep a close eye upon expenditure.
“That said, we must also recognise that there are times where employing external experts can help identify savings, and for precisely this reason this can represent a worthy investment.
“For example, the use of consultants has helped us to deliver programmes such as significant investments in our town centre and upgrading our digital services.”
Iain Roberts, Stockport Lib Dem leader, said: “Under Lib Dem leadership, the council spent less than one percent of its budget on external consultants.
“We did so only where using consultants was the most cost-effective way. One example is IT, where the council needed to update its systems and website and didn’t have the skills inhouse.”