Arguments over £1,000-a-day consultancy fees at Birmingham City Council

Jonathan Tew, the council’s assistant chief executive, also argued that the rate of pay for the half a dozen or so non-executive advisors, who are expected to do around 12 days of work in as many months, was ‘very reasonable’.

It came as the cabinet approved a new ‘assurance framework’ setting aside £150,000 for the formation of a new ‘Strategic Programme Board’.

The new body will consist of Mr Tew and the rest of the council’s directors along with the new consultants who will be expected to ‘challenge and support’ them.

In particular, the board will provide ‘additional advice and input’ to the council on six key areas including waste management and industrial relations, outcomes for vulnerable adults and children, and financial resilience.

The board will essentially replace the oversight of the council which had previously been delivered by the Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel (BIIP).

The BIIP stood down in March after four years having been set up in the wake of the Kerslake Review which criticised the way the council was run.

Despite the move to approve the new board, the council stated they cannot formally confirm the identities of the consultants until a period to ‘call-in’ the decision for review has elapsed.

However the report to cabinet confirmed how much the body would cost.

It said: “It is estimated that the costs of the proposed model, including the work of the board and commissioning of specialist external advisors and appropriate professional support, is £150k over the operational period (July 2019 to July 2020).”

The report added: “Fees for each of the external advisers are anticipated as circa £1,000 per day with an estimate of 12 days input over the twelve month period, a total estimated spend of £72,000 of the £150,000 estimated costs.”

The rate of pay has raised eyebrows with Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Jon Hunt describing it as ‘a little bit high’.

While deputy leader of the Conservative group Councillor Debbie Clancy argued that members of the public will expect transparency around how many hours the consultants worked.

In response Mr Tew said: “We will specify reasonable commitment.

“I know these numbers can often feel high but just to reassure members in the context of the consultancy market and what you would expect in partner level engagement, certainly from big firms in the market, this is a very reasonable day rate.

“I think if we are able to secure people of a nationally significant stature at this level it represents significant value.”

He also added that the costs of the disbanded BIIP were ‘significantly higher’ than those incurred by the new board.