COUNCILLORS have called for a decision to bring in finance experts to help Thurrock Council balance its budget be reconsidered.

The council proposes spending £800,000 to bring in Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) to help it find £5.25 million of the £18.2 million revenue budget savings needed for 2024/25, a move contested by opposition members.

The council has already agreed payments of £348,300 to PWC this year for work on its accounts.

Labour Group leader Cllr John Kent and Cllr Neil Speight, an independent councillor for Stanford-le-Hope West, called the proposal in to be discussed by the corporate overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday (1 November), saying it had been a last minute cabinet decision that had been subject to little scrutiny.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Kent said: "The task of having to save £75 million over the next five years isn't one that any member of the council takes lightly but I do feel paying PWC £800,000 to identify £5.2 million is disproportionate.

"I was somewhat confused that on October 5 at this very meeting, the portfolio holder said that progress on setting next years' budget, finding the savings for next year was going well.

"I was genuinely surprised when six days later there is a late report to cabinet to say that actually we are at least £5.2 million short and we need to get outside help to come in and identify those savings."

Cllr Kent added: "We shouldn't be looking to bring in outside agencies like PWC at extortionate fees to do our job for us. We should be doing it."

After hearing PWC had been working with the council for some time anyway, Cllr Speight added: "All I'm asking you to do is to go back as a cabinet to say have we really asked all the questions?

"Have we analysed what we do?

"What has been the role of PWC to date? Are they therefore the right people to go through the next months, years, decades because you've already said they are part of a very poorly resourced finance team."

Cllr Graham Snell, portfolio holder responsible for finance, human resources and payroll, said: "We do not have the resources to do all of this work without outside assistance so it's crucial that not only do people like PWC come in and identify savings that we can make but they pass on their skills and their methods to our staff so we can learn from them going forwards.

"Everything I said at various meetings is true.

"Why it's astonishing that I can say we are very close to making the £18.2 million and then suddenly, because just we need additional help, that previous statement is not true is beyond me."

The committee referred the issue back to cabinet for further consideration.