The York Council spent £1.2 million on employing consultants during the last financial year. The expenditure is broadly in line with previous years (09/10 – £1.3M, 10/11 – £1.2M).

The Council uses consultants to undertake work when either it doesn’t have the internal capacity &/or the skills to deliver specialist projects.

The figures would, therefore, be unsurprising were it not for the fact that in December last year the “Cabinet” member with responsibility for corporate decisions of this sort (Coun Julie Gunnell) was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, “Since taking control of the council from the Lib Dems we have sought to rebalance the use of consultants and now only use them where absolutely necessary!”

So everyone seems to be agreed then that expenditure of around 0.5% of the total budget on the use of external companies is about what might be expected?

In reality there is a conflict between Labour’s grand expenditure plans and the reduced capacity of the Council workforce now that many managers have been sacked.

The top 5 consultancy contractors employed by the York Council during the last year were:
1. Sweet Group, £201,115, quantity surveying services
2. Amtel Consulting, £125,133, management consultancy and specialist interim services
3. Halcrow, £77,539, Highway design consultants
4. Crosby Interim Consultancy Services, £77,474, specialist interim services
5. V4 Services, £26,075, management consultancy and specialist interim services

First are expected to move quickly to register revisions to local bus services, following the announcement by Labour Councillors made earlier in the week about cuts.

Details will shortly be available here. http://tinyurl.com/bus-service-registrations

There are a number of changes to frequencies and several major re-routings.

The most significant is probably for the Number 12 which will now run from Foxwood/Woodthorpe to Monks Cross (not Haxby). This is a shorter journey and will, claim First, improve reliability. The Foxwood loop is retained and there are no plans to change the route through Woodthorpe.

Haxby will be serviced by the number 13 running from Copmanthorpe via Tadcaster Road. This frequency on this service will be cut to hourly.

Other service changes affect the Hollybank link to Acomb and the station, the Dodsworth service to the City Centre and Monks Cross, Bishopthorpe to York and Skelton to York.

A new service to the Sports Village on Hull Road will be started. The new swimming pool there opens on Tuesday.

Many areas will lose out under the new arrangements but the main concern is the continued reluctance of the York Council to publish route by route reliability figures on a regular basis.

Reliability on services such as the number 4, has suffered since the Council started to draw up plans for a statutory bus contract system in the City.

A classic case of “taking your eye off the ball”?