MORE than £33 million has been spent by Somerset Council on consultants and temporary agency staff while it axed 555 jobs to try to avoid going bankrupt.

Conservatives on the Liberal Democrat-run council are now demanding ‘full transparency’ on all consultancy and agency spending.

They also want the council to ensure permanent staff and not costly consultants are ‘at the heart of service delivery’.

The consultancy and agency cover costs were revealed in questioning by Conservative Cllr Dawn Denton, who wanted a breakdown since a financial emergency was declared in 2023.

The authority confirmed £12.5 million in 2023-24, £14.2 million in 2024-25, and £6.8 million so far this current financial year.

Cllr Denton said the true figure was probably higher because agency and consultancy costs not part of the authority’s matrix were excluded.

It also did not include a recent £20 million on consultants to advise on how to make savings to bridge a forecast budget gap of £101 million next year rising to £190 million by 2029-30.

The spending came during a restructuring exercise where the authority cut 555 permanent posts, including nearly 300 redundancies, to save £34 million on its wage bill.

Cllr Denton said: “Somerset Council is cutting services for our residents, increasing council tax, and yet writing blank cheques to consultants.

“That is not responsible leadership, does not build trust, or balance the books.

“Somerset deserves leadership that invests in its own people, not costly sticking-plaster solutions.”

A council spokesperson said: “While going through a whole council restructure, it was always planned to use agency staff as short-term cover in specific roles rather than recruiting permanent staff who could later be at risk of redundancy.

“Now the restructure is complete, we are actively seeking to reduce use of agency staff and convert agency staff to permanent where possible.”