PRIVATE consultants have been hired at a cost of £120,000 to advise Gloucestershire County Council how to reduce its spending.

The small team of highly-paid consultants, which will be paid for by the taxpayer, has been brought in by GCC to help the authority identify where the £75 million worth of spending cuts it has pledged to make over the next three years should fall.

The team’s presence at Shire Hall was revealed on Wednesday, following a question from Labour county councillor Steve Lydon, who wanted to know exactly why the consultants had been hired and how much they were being paid.

In a written reply circulated to members at a meeting of the full council, Conservative councillor Ray Theodoulou, the administration’s deputy leader for finance and change, said: “A small number of consultants have been engaged at a cost of around £120,000.”

The hiring of the consultants comes as GCC looks to implement another round of budget cuts on top of the £114 million worth of savings it has already committed to making by the end of the 2014/15 financial year as part of its Meeting the Challenge programme.

At a time of unprecedented belt-tightening for local authorities, the decision to spend £120,000 on outside consultants has provoked disbelief among opposition Labour councillors who feel the money could be better spent.

Speaking after the meeting Cllr Lydon, Labour’s speaker for finance and change, said: “We heard that some consultants had been brought in so I asked the question to find out more.

“As far as I am concerned it is important this kind of information is in the public domain, especially when we are having to slash budgets and make cuts.

“What I don’t understand is why we need to pay people to advise us on how to spend less money. It surely goes against everything we are trying to do, although it shouldn’t surprise us coming from a Conservative council that worships at the feet of the private sector.

“At a time of scarce resources, I can’t help but feel this money would have been better spent on frontline staff, people caring for the elderly and vulnerable.

“£120,000 is a lot of money. You could pay the salaries of a few teachers or social workers with that, not to mention mend a few potholes.”

However, in a statement released to the press Cllr Theodoulu defended the expenditure, saying it would save the council money in the long run.

“We’re working hard to save £75m on an ongoing basis,” he said. “If a one-off spend on expert advice can deliver future year-on-year savings, that’s a good use of taxpayers’ money.”