CORNWALL Council’s use of outside consultants has increased by more than 300 per cent over the last four years. A Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request has found that the local authority paid £1.48-million in 2021/22 compared to £4.83-million in 2023/24.
An opposition councillor has dubbed the increase as “shocking”, while the council has stated that the use of external experts is often more cost effective than employing full-time staff.
The figures show that the spend on consultants grew slightly in 2022/23 to £1.58-million before the huge jump the following year. Among the consultation services paid for in 2023/24 were Project Corduroy – the stalled deal to find a financial partner to run and commercialise the Newquay airport estate – ‘digitalising adult social care’, a sheltered housing review, ‘Digital Futures strategies partner’ and a ‘motorcycle behavioural science deep dive’.
Tim Dwelly, Independent councillor for Penzance East, said: “These figures are totally shocking by any standards. This Conservative council, which came in promising to cut spending on consultants and control the finances, has allowed the spending on them to rocket. It’s astonishing because we have a need for so much more to be done for communities and residents than ever before, but here we are spending this money not just outside the council but often outside Cornwall.
.jpeg?width=209&height=140&crop=209:145,smart&quality=75)
“Even if they were to try to justify this, they will struggle to show what amazing things have happened as a result of this spending. This council has also spent around £1-million on a company to advise on an airport transfer which never was going to take place.
“That money and these figures all come from the mainstream budget of the council. All these millions could have been spent on services and reducing the number of people made redundant.”
We asked Cornwall Council why there has been such a huge hike in the spend over the previous year, especially give the council’s financial position — it is £1.3-billion in debt.
A spokesperson didn’t respond to that, but said: “All councils need to be able to undertake transformation activity in order to reshape how services are delivered with challenged resources and increasing demand.
“We choose to use external experts to support us when specific specialist work programmes are needed as this is more cost effective than employing full time staff on permanent contracts.”