LAST week’s County Gazette featured an investigation into the costs of consultants employed by Taunton Deane Borough Council.

Since the publication of the article, TDBC has pointed out a number of points in the story which may have been misinterpreted and have responded below.

We are happy to clarify the information and apologise for any confusion.

READ MORE: REVEALED: Council spent £1.2m on consultants in 10 months

A statement from the council said: “The County Gazette was furnished with a response to its FoI request in mid-February. A number of general questions were subsequently asked and responses provided on March 7.

"There was ample opportunity for the newspaper to raise questions on a breakdown of the figures provided if further clarification was needed.

“The newspaper did not request further clarification and as a result a potentially misleading report was published, some aspects of which are not borne out by facts provided through the FoI.

“Taunton Deane Borough Council would like to set out those facts:

“The spending on consultants and other work in regard to Firepool and Coal Orchard is not £619,000 as quoted in the County Gazette. 

“It is around a quarter of this figure – in the region of, at most, £150,000.

“The figure used by the newspaper included £463,268 paid to a single company. However, as the council’s response to the Freedom of Information (FoI) request made absolutely clear, Firepool accounted for only part of this figure. Had clarification been sought, it would show that Firepool accounted for £14,665 of this overall sum.

“This overall sum also included a survey on the condition of the council’s housing, communal spaces, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan, and the relocation of the DLO dept.

READ MORE: Council defends £1.2m spend on consultants

“The housing condition survey and related housing matters accounts for the lion’s share - £403,115 – and covers around 5,800 council-owned homes.

“The spending on the Coal Orchard project is – at the maximum – around £35,300 of the quoted costs. So, taken together, the overall spending identified in the FoI on Firepool and Coal Orchard is actually only 24 per cent of the figure quoted on the front page of the newspaper.

“Money allocated for transformation is not for the creation of a single, new council. It is towards the costs of a radical programme of change in the way staff work and deliver services. This is aimed at making savings for the taxpayer in future. The two councils (Taunton Deane and West Somerset) were awarded a £750,000 Government grant – the Transformation Challenge Award – to help fund the programme and this grant funding can only be used towards transformation costs as we are doing.

“Unlike many other local authorities, Taunton Deane Borough Council, invests the major share of its New Homes Bonus in its growth and development ambitions rather than spend the money on the day to day running of the authority. It has committed to spending £16m over five years to support and boost the local economy. This has allowed us to set aside millions for strategic projects and investment as follows;

The spending includes:

  • £3m - Taunton Strategic Flood Alleviation
  • £2.5m - Major Transport Schemes
  • £2.5m - Town Centre Regeneration
  • £4m - Employment site enabling and promoting enterprise and innovation
  • £4m - Supporting urban extension delivery

“This means that money generated by growth is re-invested in growth, and is therefore separate from General Fund Revenue budgets used for delivering front-line services.

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“The growth programme – new development and regeneration – means the council needs to invest to make it happen. Costs will inevitably be incurred for specialist advice on complex issues. Taunton Deane is a pro-business authority and this sometimes requires the commissioning of expertise that does not sit within the authority, to accelerate delivery.

“We are investing in Taunton’s growth and regeneration to bring delivery forward and secure the economic, leisure, social and cultural benefits that these developments will bring. Once developed, Coal Orchard and Firepool will create hundreds of new jobs and much needed homes, and improve our leisure and cultural offer, enhance our riverside and public spaces.

“It makes sense to commission experts when they are needed, rather than employ specialists on a permanent basis. This is common practice among local authorities, particularly smaller councils. Taunton Deane takes every opportunity to bid for – and win – external funding. The £350,000 awarded through the Garden Town will pay for the specialist advice needed on key issues such as roads, infrastructure and the development of brownfield sites.

“The council is making £1.8m in savings every year to protect frontline services through its partnership with West Somerset Council, bringing the two sets of staff together as a single team. This level of savings is, to some extent, generated by having fewer permanent staff on the books.

“All this information is freely available. Spending on consultants and agency staff was reported to Taunton Deane Borough Council’s scrutiny committee in November so that elected members could scrutinise the figures, ask questions and raise issues. The debate and accompanying information was open to the public.

“The council, in common with other local authorities, is open and transparent when it comes to spending public money – a responsibility that is not taken lightly.”