More than £700,000 was spent by Shropshire Council on hiring consultants in the last financial year, a new report has revealed.

Council bosses today claimed the cash spent on consultants to help implement a management re-structure at the authority had actually saved about £5 million.

But leaders at Shropshire Unison have questioned the need for consultants and have demanded the council carries out more work in-house.

The report to the authority’s audit committee, which was meeting today, has set out the costs involved after members requested information on the hiring of consultants and an explanation of the benefits they provide.

Council chiefs insist the use of external consultants is necessary in some cases to provide expert knowledge and opinion on a variety of areas of council work.

Councillor Keith Barrow, leader of Shropshire Council, today said the money spent on consultants for the re-structure had saved about £5 million compared to if the work had been done in-house.

He said: “We only go to consultants when we need them but sometimes we have to bring in expertise. When you are hiring consultants you have got to look at what they deliver and the management review is a good example because by getting them in place quickly we saved about £5 million.”

A report to the committee says during 2010/11 a total of £702,530 was spent on consultants. It says the use of consultants allows the council to buy in specialist advice and support for specific projects.

This allows the authority to call on knowledge and skills which are not ‘readily available’ within the council. Consultants can also provide interim cover.

Councillors requested information on the total amount spent on consultants after a report in June revealed there had been an overspend in the council’s human resources and development department.

The bulk of the money related to consultant costs incurred in relation to a senior management re-structure.