Council splashed out £335k on consultancy charges over last year

More than £335,000 was spent on consultants by East Renfrewshire Council last year, new figures show.

- DREW SANDELANDS, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

External consultancy firms are hired by local authorities to give advice or carry out projects on their behalf.

Councillors in East Renfrewshire previously agreed to review the log of expenditure each year after concerns were raised in 2018 over the “extent to which external consultants were being used by the authority”.

Details of the spend in the financial year 2024/25 were included in a recent report to the council's audit and scrutiny committee.

A council official told the committee how they “strive for the very best price”.

“The market dictates that,” she added. “But we do have rigorous procurement activity and commercial evaluation.”