Wrexham Council’s £1,888,779 Spend On Consultants Last Year Detailed

Councillors have been provided with an update on the use of external consultants in Wrexham Council for the last financial year.

In 2016-17 Wrexham Council spent £1.8m on consultants, however with external funding removed from that figure, it was £1.6m.  That is compared to £1.1m the year before, after external funding was taken into account.

The Council defines a consultant as: “A person (not an employee), agency or firm engaged for a limited period of time on a fee basis to carry out a specific task or tasks. A consultant provides subject matter, expertise and/or experience to the council either because it does not possess the skills or resources in-house or which requires an independent evaluation/assessment to be made”.

Each ‘Appointing Officer’ has also scored the consultants from 0 to 4, with all being rated as ‘average’ or ‘above average’.

The following table provides details on who engaged the consultants who were active in the last financial year: (the full notes can be read on page 4 here)

There is also detail given to the name of the consultant, what scheme they were hired for, the duration of appointment and the overall cost.

The main spend of £1.3m is with Price Waterhouse Coopers, a well documented hire, although there was discussion over which political group was responsible for the commission.

Other spending is detailed, with £6400 spent with ‘Connect Internet Solutions’ for ‘Design and deliver new website for aqueduct and canals plus refurbishment of 5 digital information kiosks’.

£25,657 was spent on a ‘Study for two indoor markets and Henblas Street’ , and £3,220 on ‘Professional advice regarding listing status of the Groves’.

The report also gives details on legal services spending split between solicitors and barrister.

£88,768 was spent on barristers, with the main chunk being with Linenhall Chambers in Chester (£64k) and the rest spread between counsel in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

The £106,832 in solicitor fees includes some disbursements, with the full breakdown viewable on the last page of this PDF.