Council appoints London consultants to draw up North Yorkshire growth strategy

An £89,537 contract to draw up a strategy to grow the economy in North Yorkshire has been handed to a London company.

North Yorkshire County Council has commissioned Steer-ED to carry out the work on behalf of the upcoming North Yorkshire Council.

The new authority will come into force on April 1, 2023.

The Stray Ferret asked the county council whether it had considered local companies for the work and if the strategy could have been drawn up by its own staff.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“The advent of the new North Yorkshire Council provides us with an opportunity to create a county-wide strategy to drive forward economic growth and support existing businesses while attracting new enterprise.

“Working with council officers, Steer-ED will produce a new county-wide economic growth strategy which will be guided by extensive consultations and engagement with a number of key organisations. This will help us maximise North Yorkshire’s economic potential and drive inward investment across the county.

“Steer-ED was appointed following a competitive procurement process, and the contract was awarded in accordance with the procurement framework requirements. The framework consists of 41 consultants from across the country, and all were invited to tender for the contract.

“Our economic development teams will work very closely with Steer-ED. The decision was taken to recruit consultants to provide an important external perspective as well as ensuring there is additional capacity so the work is completed soon after the launch of the new North Yorkshire Council on April 1 next year.”

Read more:

The move is the latest contract to be awarded to a national firm as the county council transitions towards the new North Yorkshire Council.

In July, the Stray Ferret revealed that four consultancy companies were awarded £5 million for “reorganisation support for North Yorkshire Council”.

The contract was awarded to KPMG, Price Waterhouse Cooper, PA Consulting Ltd and Capita Business Service Ltd.

However, councillors on the authority criticised the move as a “waste of money” and questioned whether it could have been better spent elsewhere.