New Shropshire Council leadership calls to 'rein in spending' after consultancy bills 'hit £17k per day' under Tories
The incoming administration of Shropshire Council has demanded action over consultancy spending, claiming consultant bills reached highs of £17,000 per day under the previous leadership.
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The incoming Liberal Democrat administration of Shropshire Council say they are demanding action over several tough issues faced by the local authority.
They claim one of those issues "reining in the council's consultancy spend", which they say went as high as £17,000 a day.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said that early meetings with senior officers have also focused on putting in controls over the quality of pothole repairs and the highways contract, and improving the customer service offering for residents.
Councillor Heather Kidd, Leader-elect of Shropshire Council, said: "This new Liberal Democrat administration is taking immediate action to bring about the changes which voters want to see in Shropshire.
"We've demanded action to rein in the Council's consultancy spend, which went as high as £17,000 per day on the Price Waterhouse Cooper contract alone under the Conservatives.
"We are also asking for serious improvements to be made as a matter of urgency to the way that our Highways contract works. Local residents deserve good value and are fed up with shoddy repair jobs.
"As much as anything, our council needs to become more open and transparent with residents. We're going to be driving changes which make getting in touch, reporting issues, and getting real feedback easier.
"That's proper community politics in action - having the Guildhall serve residents, not the other way around."
The Lib Dems also say they are working on delivering a 'devolution agenda' for Shropshire, working in partnership with town and parish councils to "deliver key community services the way they are needed place-by-place, rather than catch all".
Councillor Alex Wagner, Deputy Leader-elect of Shropshire Council, said: "Early meetings with senior officers have been highly productive on a number of issues, including our call to devolve real power to communities over local decision making.
"We want to work as partners and equals with town and parish councils to deliver services in the way that communities want them to be, rather than a top-down approach as we've seen in the past.
"We'll only achieve real change by having grown-up conversations with communities about the challenges that the county faces, and how we can improve services if we work together. That style of working and cultural change is what we intend on delivering as a priority."
