Consultant spend questioned

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Ashburton's council spent $1,118,973 on consultants in the past financial year.

But while councils can be accused of wasting money on consultants, the question should be around what an acceptable figure is when the work needs to be done, Ashburton's council chief executive says.

Ashburton District councillor Carolyn Cameron recently questioned how much the council was spending on consultants.

Chief executive Hamish Riach said people should think about the work as opposed to whether staff or consultants were the ones doing it.

"That’s just an input to get the job done.

“It’s just simply a way of getting the work done that council has approved.”

The council spent $1,118,973 on consultants in the 2022-23 financial year, down from the $1,124,084 in 2021-22.

The figures supplied by the council do not include multi-year projects.

The council also tendered a $3.67 million three-year three waters professional services contract that was awarded to Beca last year.

“We did that to try and speed up the delivery of projects,” Riach said.

“When we come to do a project, we know we are using Beca rather than having to tender the professional services [each time].”

Consultants are used throughout many areas of the council business, including engineering design and property services, to provide specific information for the council to make informed decisions.

But it is ultimately the council’s decision as to how any project proceeds, Riach said.

Consultants are used for a set fee and piece of work when the technical expertise sits outside the council’s workforce capability or capacity, Riach said.

“When there are the staff shortages that New Zealand is currently experiencing, or there are specialist skills needed that don’t sit within our staff group, or workload for staff means we cannot deliver outcomes without additional resources, consultants can help plug some of the gaps to ensure work is still delivered in a timely manner."

Tendered projects are made public, due to their higher dollar value or significance, as per the council’s procurement policy.

**Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air