More than £400,000 has been spent on consultants to Surrey County Council so far in 2016/17, it has been revealed – a potential increase of more than 40 per cent on the previous financial year.

In some cases, the council was spending up to £1,800-a-day on consultants, council leader David Hodge confirmed at a cabinet meeting.

Surrey County Council’s consultancy bill soared from £305,000 in 2015/16 to £431,000 so far this financial year.

If this rate of spending continues, the council's consultancy spending in 2016/17 could be up more than 40 per cent on the previous year.

The council’s consultancy spending emerged following a question by Liberal Democrat Councillor Hazel Watson.

Surrey Comet:

In response, Leader of the Council, David Hodge (pictured above), said that using consultants had helped the council save “nearly £400 million” worth of savings in the last five years.

“This administration discourages the use of consultants, instead preferring to use the council’s own staff to undertake the work,” he said.

“There are a number of professions where we customarily use external resources to provide specialist technical expertise, such as architects, surveyors and engineers as well as legal opinion or advice.

“This is where we do not have the relevant expertise and knowledge in house and obviously it makes sense to use a consultant in those cases.

“It would not be good value for money to employ such specialists on a permanent basis.”

From last week: Surrey County Council forced to dip into 'largest ever use of reserves' to address £15 million overspend

At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 22 councillors also heard that the council had blown its budget by £15 million this year, due to the rising cost and demand for adult social care, children’s services, and school places across the country.

From September: Poorest to be 'seriously impacted' by changes to Surrey County Council's adult social care service charges

From November: Surrey County Council turns down 80 per cent of social care request due to 'huge financial strain'

The “serious” financial situation has prompted Surrey County Council to abandon plans for committing to any additional spending until it has balanced its budget, and forced the council to use £24.8 million of reserves – its largest ever planned use of reserves to support its budget.

Surrey Comet:

Cllr Watson (pictured above) said: "At a time when the Tories are pleading poverty, the council's consultancy bill should not be going up and certainly not by over 40 per cent.

“The Conservative administration cannot look Surrey residents in the eye and ask them to pay more and more council tax to protect vital services if they haven’t got their own house in order first.

“This use of consultants needs to be brought under control and scrutinised to assess whether this expenditure is really necessary.

“Liberal Democrats county councillors are calling for the council to dramatically reduce its spending in this area and instead focus on providing value for money for residents whilst reducing unnecessary costs.”

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