Edinburgh city council 'biggest spender on consultants'

Published on Monday 28 April 2008 13:39

EDINBURGH City Council has spent more than any other local authority on external consultants, it was reported today.

Figures released under Freedom of Information laws show Edinburgh spent 8.2 million on advisors in 2006/07.

North Lanarkshire was said to be the second-biggest spender at 7.1 million.

In total, Scotland's councils spent a record 67 million, a rise of 30 per cent on the previous year.

Edinburgh City Council finance convener Gordon Mackenzie was reported as defending the council's spending.

He was quoted as saying: "In Edinburgh we've had a number of large capital projects that have come on-stream and we've had to get in consultants for that.

"In addition I would argue that getting consultants in on the short term can actually save you money in the longer term because they're only there on the bill for the amount of time they do the job.

"If we brought somebody in longer term, that cost would be with us for the longer term so we're actually getting smarter about how we employ people or engage people to work for the council."