By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council is due to spend up to £100,000 to extend the work of an external consultant as part of its transformation programme.
The Labour-run authority has spent tens of thousands of pounds on external advisors as it attempts to overhaul the way the council is run.
The authority has already reduced its debt from £1 billion to around £900 million and is proposing to save £38 million over the next four years, which includes proposals to close children’s centres and libraries.
But it needs cash to deliver capital projects across the city and is therefore selling off land and buildings it no longer needs.
In May, it was looking to spend £695,000 on advisors to accelerate the redevelopment plans of the former Broadmarsh shopping centre.
The site, which was handed back to the council when owners Intu went bust, will be developed into houses, businesses, a green space, and a host of arts and tourist attractions.
Part of the advisors’ job will be drawing up a Levelling Up bid to government after the council lost out on a £20 million funding application last year, which would have paid for further demolition of some of the site.
The council said it had £180,000 of the £695,000 required available within its capital programme budget for the Broadmarsh advisors but more funding will need to be identified to make up the shortfall.
Some other external consultants already appointed this year include two consultants paid £96,000 for six months of work helping to sell off assets. This works out at a day rate of £400.
The council also approved ‘up to’ £270,000 on ‘external resources’ to deliver business support transformation activity.
The latest, made under a delegated decision on July 7, which means it took place outside a council meeting, is to spend up to £100,000.
This is to further extend the work of a property solicitor for a period of up to 12 months. The cost will be charged to the Asset Rationalisation Programme, which is from the sale of land and buildings.
The council says: “There was, and remains, insufficient capacity within the existing permanent staffing establishment to deliver the disposals required under the Asset Rationalisation Programme, which is an ongoing scheme of high value to the council.
“The proposal identifies previous attempts to secure an employed resource through the market, however, previous attempts have been unsuccessful and so the use of agency contractors remains the most viable option at the present time.”
Cllr David Mellen (Lab), leader of the council, said: “The government’s non-statutory review of the council places a requirement on the council to improve, with a focus on financial and governance arrangements.
“We are making good progress on this, but we need external expertise at this early stage of our transformation, with changes required at pace.
“We made a request to Government for capitalisation, allowing us to borrow up to £20m against capital assets, which has helped us to create a transformation reserve.
“Some of this reserve money is being used to appoint external experts and set up new business support and customer service arrangements to drive the transformation activity that’s been identified is needed at the council. This does not impact on our budgets for running day-to-day services.
“We have planned and are delivering in-house skills and development programmes aimed at developing new skills in our own staff so that they can pick up the reins and continue to deliver the changes that are needed.
“There are higher costs involved, including agency fees, when appointing temporary staff, and we are working towards making permanent appointments as soon as possible.
“We understand that these costs are high, when the council is having to make huge savings from its budget. However, they are a necessary short-term measure to help us move forward, while the budget savings will help to place us on a sound financial footing over the long-term.”
