WORTHING West Labour parliamentary candidate Ian Ross is back on the warpath against local authorities using outside consultants.
And this time his target is West Sussex County Council, which he says has spent £41million on external consultants during the past four years.
Mr Ross, who obtained his information from a Freedom of Information request, said: "The amount of money spent on external consultants illustrates that those councillors with budgetary responsibilities need to get real.
"Public spending will inevitably be tightened as the next government attempts to reduce the budget deficit.
"However, it's about time some of our councillors live in the real world and take responsibility on council issues they were elected to do, like ensuring value for money for local council taxpayers."
Specialist skillsIn reply, a county council spokesman said consultancy costs included work carried out by a wide range of contractors, such as engineers and staff hired to work on IT projects.
"It is very often specialist skills we are purchasing to deliver important projects, and using outside contractors for short-term projects is more cost-effective than hiring permanent staff... the use of consultants as part of the council's Fundamental Service Review (FSR) is helping to achieve large efficiency savings, which the council is using to protect and improve its front-line services," the spokesman added.
"For example, the council used consultants as part of the first phase of FSR to help identify improved business and working practices.
"The cost was a one-off payment of £1.2 million, but this work has led to budget savings of £15 million annually.
"The second phase of FSR has increased those annual efficiency savings, allowing the council the benefit of an extra £30million to invest in services year on year, at a time when it is receiving minimal grant support from the government."
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