County council awards £5m reorganisation contract to national firms

A £5 million North Yorkshire County Council contract handed to four national consultancy firms has been criticised as a “waste of money”.

The contract was awarded to KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers, PA Consulting Ltd and Capita Business Service Ltd to give support for the formation of the new unitary authority.

However, councillors have questioned why the contract has been awarded and whether money could be better spent elsewhere.

The council advertised the requirements of the contract as to provide “reorganisation support for North Yorkshire Council”.

The Stray Ferret asked the county council what the consultancy firms will be doing as part of the contract and how much each would be receiving from the £5 million.

Conservative Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive member for finance at the council, said the consultancy firms will be on hand to provide expertise and advice to ensure the new council is “safe and legal”.

Cllr Dadd added that the spend was “necessary” to ensure that taxpayers get value for money from the proposal.

He said:

“The county’s proposals for a single new council with the scale and strength to provide effective public services that are fit for the future and reflect North Yorkshire’s unique rural geography was developed using in-house expertise.

“We did not use consultants for this purpose, but drew on decades of providing nationally acclaimed services to every household in the county to a very high standard.

“However, the complexities and challenges associated with such a major programme of local government reorganisation have meant that we have experts available to help ensure that the new council is safe and legal for when it is launched next year.

“Given the importance of this opportunity, the potential savings to be made and the ultimate prize of the strongest devolution agreement for North Yorkshire and York, some consultancy spend may well be necessary to ensure our proposals do represent best value.

“Each of the four consultancy firms have been selected through an official framework established by the government and are now available if needed to help with the local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire.

“There is no commitment that they will actually be commissioned by the county council for specific projects, but their expertise is available if needed.”

Cllr Dadd added that the new council was estimated to save £260 million over the next five years by streamlining services to one authority.

‘Waste of money’

However, Cllr Stuart Parsons, of the independent group on the county council, said he felt hiring consultants was a “waste of money”.

He said:

“I’m afraid that I think commissioning “consultants” is a waste of time and money. I would rather see that £5 million go to children’s and adult social care – spent there it would actually make a real difference.

“I find that consultants are simply failed officers.”

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Meanwhile, David Goode, chair of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, questioned why the contract was needed.

He said:

“It seems like a phenomenal amount of money to spend on external consultants.

“I can understand why they might need some expertise, but it begs the question of what expertise we have in the council.”

The news comes as the county council is pressing ahead with setting up the new authority

An implementation executive made up of senior councillors has been created to make decisions on what the council will look like.

The new North Yorkshire Council will come into force in April 2023 and will replace the county council and seven districts, including Harrogate Borough Council.