Wirral Council pay £172,910 + VAT + expenses to consultants to help find £2.5 million of savings (Future Council)
Information revealed by Wirral Council in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Councillor Paul Hayes has stated that fifty-three of its staff are working on the “Future Council” project, which is the current consultation (closing on the 31st October 2014) to find £2.5 million of savings. The “Future Council” consultation launch was reported on by this blog earlier this month.
All fifty-three staff were asked to sign “confidentiality statements” and “conflict of interest” forms to do with their “Future Council” work. Councillors on Wirral Council’s three scrutiny committees have recently agreed to behind closed doors meetings to discuss the budget options during the consultation period.
However Wirral Council also revealed that the “Future Council” project is also supported by a team of four consultants from EY (previously called Ernst and Young) at a cost of £172,910 + VAT + expenses. This comes on top of a recent scandal about another set of consultants that Wirral Council hired called V4 being paid more than was authorised by politicians (as revealed by the Liverpool Echo in the last few days).
Certainly Wirral Council paying outside consultants £172,910 + VAT + expenses will not go down well with either the trade unions or staff facing the prospect of being made redundant.
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