Shropshire Council leader defends £3m consultant spend

Lezley Picton likened the situation to paying for a £5,000 bathroom, but not spending £300 on a plumber

The leader of Shropshire Council has defended paying consultants £3m to find ways of making £51m of cuts.

Conservative Lezley Picton said failing to bring in outside help would be like buying a £5,000 bathroom and "not spending £300 to get the plumber in".

But opposition leaders have criticised the spending, as the council looks to cut its budget.

Labour Leader Julia Buckley said: "My guess is they don't want to do it themselves."

The authority, which could be facing an overspend this year alone of about £10m, said the spending on the "transformation partner" would be spread over three years.

Ms Picton told a council meeting: "I'll be brutally honest with you, if we don't do this, there won't be a year two and three, because we do not have the capacity or the expertise to deliver that change."

Afterwards she added: "I'm hoping that they're actually going to help us save more than £51m," and she said they needed someone to take a different look at the problem.

In response, Ms Buckley said: "They're wiping off wholesale service areas so that residents in Shropshire will have many fewer services."

She questioned if the authority could afford £3m and said: "It's dirty work isn't it, having to sack your team, having to cut away services that people rely on, so what better way than to pay an external provider to come in and deliver the bad news."