News

Brent council spending in spotlight

21.09.11 | Benedicte Page

Brent council spent over £1.2m on consultants in March, the same month that it published its report recommending the closure of six libraries, aimed at saving £1m over two years.

Local library campaigner Samantha Warrington termed the spending "yet more evidence of shocking waste and incompetence" by the council. She told the Harrow Observer: "Officials are paying more than £1 million a month to consultants while cutting frontline services such as libraries."

The council said it was using consultancy to save money in the long term as part of a scheme termed the One Council Programme. A spokeswoman said: "More than half the quoted figure is for construction projects that the council is progressing, while another set of payments are to social care providers. Around £300,000 is for what is generally termed consultancy. As always, with the One Council Programme we employ consultants with specialisms only to help us save money."

Brent library campaigners are currently awaiting the judge's verdict in a judicial review of the council's plans for its library service.

Trackback URL for this post:

http://www.thebookseller.com/trackback/54220

Comments: Scroll down for the latest comments and to have your say

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller comments policy. Comments go direct to live please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable comments by clicking the links"

Post new comment

Due to persistent spam problems we are now asking users to register before submitting comments. If you have already registered or are a subscriber then please log in now. Otherwise you can use the simple form below to register when you submit your comment. Your comment will go live once you click the validation link in the email. Comments still go live without moderation.
You should use this name when logging into your account.
This name will be displayed when you comment on the site.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <br> <p> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

Type the characters you see in this picture. (verify using audio)
Type the characters you see in the picture above; if you can't read them, submit the form and a new image will be generated. Not case sensitive.

Latest Jobs

Editor
Quid Publishing, part of the Quarto...
Competitive
Assistant Editor
The Royal Academy of Arts is one of...
£23,950 plus attractive benefits
Head of Production Operations (Maternity cover)
Location : Cambridge Salary :...
Excellent - On Application
 

TheBookseller