Revealed: Council Spend on Consultants Rises to £2 million

• Southwark Council’s spending on consultants has soared to £2 million—an 18% rise—while residents face the cost-of-living crisis.
• Labour's wasteful spending includes a shocking 53% increase in catering and refreshments and 26% rise in agency staff costs, hitting £29 million, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
• The Southwark Liberal Democrats’ alternative budget will cut waste, prioritise frontline services, and deliver better value for residents.

Southwark Council has spent £2 million on consultants in one year, up 18% from £1.7 million the year before, enquiries by the Southwark Liberal Democrats have revealed.

Consultants are hired by the council to advise on a number of projects, including “Southwark 2030” and its school closures programme. But the Liberal Democrats say this often represents poor value for taxpayer cash, which should be prioritised for frontline services.

This comes as the council prepares to set its budget for 2025/2026, with the opposition gearing up to set out its alternative budget, which last year promised to deliver better services for residents, and to go greener faster. 

Information gathered by the Liberal Democrats to aid in forming its alternative budget has uncovered shocking Labour waste and false economies, including a 26% increase on agency workers (costing  £29 million) up from £23.1 million. 

The Liberal Democrats say that this reliance on agency staff leaves the council vulnerable to the Labour government’s national insurance tax raid, which is set to send costs skyrocketing even further. The opposition had previously called on the council to accelerate its programme to bring services in-house to give job security to workers and improve accountability for council services.

Other extraordinary overspends include catering and refreshments, which soared past its budget by 53% - spending £177k to date against a budget of £116k, an overspend more than double last year’s Pride Fund, which was slammed for its paltry size and poor administration.

Commenting, Cllr Victor Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition said: 

“When money is tight for so many families, the council must spend wisely. Our alternative budget will cut waste like expensive consultants and agency staff and focus on what really matters—helping local people.  So often in councils, much that goes wrong can be blamed on the national Government. But not only do Labour now hold all levers of power, which it is choosing to use to drive through damaging tax hikes, but here in Southwark there is clear waste that is typical of a Labour council. Liberal Democrats would prioritize investing in frontline services and community projects, not wasting millions on consultants and thousands on dinners for council bosses.”