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Daily Record
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Record
Perth and Kinross Council spent £3 million on consultants over the past three years
A Perth and Kinross councillor believes the rising spend on outsourcing work is an "inevitable consequence" of cuts to the local authority's budget Perth and Kinross Council has spent around £3 million - possibly more - employing the use of consultants over the past three years. Between 2022 and 2025 the local authority awarded 31 contracts for consultants often due to a lack of resources or in-house specialist knowledge. The contracts range from £594,300 (exc VAT) for its Perth People Place and Perth Transport Futures programme - which includes the Cross Tay Link Road project - to £5625 (exc VAT) on VAT advice for Perth's new leisure facility PH2O. Most of the figures are publicly available on the government's Public Contracts Scotland website and exclude VAT. However there were no financial figures published for four of the 31 contracts awarded to consultants by PKC between 2022 and 2025. PKC has suggested this may be due to the information being "commercially sensitive". Explanations as to why consultants were paid to do a job rather than council employees was provided by Perth and Kinross Council in response to a Freedom of Information request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. In many cases it was blamed on a lack of council resources. A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "Payments for individual consultants vary depending on the length and nature of the work involved. "In some cases, costs may not be published if they were commercially sensitive; for example if supplier rates could be worked out from the value of the contract." In many cases - such as the review of the council's arm's-length external organisations (ALEOs) - PKC said contracting out the work saved the local authority money. A PKC spokesperson said: "We have saved money by going direct to a consultancy for the options appraisal exercise they have undertaken as this was carried out over a much shorter time period than the temporary post and at a lesser cost." Vice-convener of Perth and Kinross Council's Scrutiny and Performance Committee Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey believes the mounting figures are the "inevitable consequence of the years of real-terms cuts we've seen to council budgets". Bailie Bailey said: "This is something that I'll take time to dig into the detail of in order to find and question any cases where spends look excessive. I'd like to thank the Perthshire Advertiser for getting this information into the public domain. "The headline figures are concerning but - to put this into perspective - the use of consultants sometimes allows the council to do more without having to employ full-time permanent staff. These numbers are therefore an inevitable consequence of the years of real-terms cuts we've seen to council budgets. Gone are the days when a council the size of Perth and Kinross can justify having all the specialists in the building all of the time." The amount of taxpayers' money spent on consultant fees to provide services to Perth and Kinross Council has risen over the course of the the three years. In 2022/23 the total cost was £721, 573. It rose to £779,553 in 2023/25 before soaring to £935,210 in 2024/25. All costs indicated on the Public Contracts Scotland website exclude VAT. Costs not listed include two contracts awarded in 2023 and 2024 for a Development Control Works Package. Explaining the need for a consultant to provide the package, a PKC spokesperson said: "As part of the Flooding Teams duties, we provide non-statutory consultation to all proposed development applications across Perth and Kinross. While we endeavour to appraise these in-house, during times of increased workload or flooding events where resources are stretched it is not possible to maintain the service and therefore, we require to utilise the support of an external consultant to ensure a continuation of the planning response. The consultant is also occasionally tasked with undertaking design work or focussing on larger, more complex planning applications which may be out with the skill set currently within the Flooding team."
Daily Record
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Record
Councillor requests to see Swallow Roundabout road safety audit following concerns about new layout
The Perth and Kinross councillor made the FOI request believing a report on public safety should be made public A Perth and Kinross councillor has welcomed recommendations made in a road safety audit on Invergowrie's Swallow Roundabout. Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Transport Scotland to see the redacted report after so many residents complained the roundabout's new layout was not just "confusing" but "dangerous". The safety audit was conducted in March and Bailie Bailey felt - given it was about public safety - its findings should be made public. Developer Springfield appointed Luddon Construction Ltd to carry out the roundabout improvements. However, ever since the work was completed earlier this year, drivers have been left confused, frustrated and faced lengthy delays with the new layout. Traffic lights confusingly warn there is no right turn which could make drivers think they cannot turn right at all on the roundabout. While there is no mention of the confusing traffic lights in the road safety audit Stewart Paton Associates conducted for Transport Scotland, on behalf of Springfield, the consultants did make several safety recommendations which are currently being reviewed by Springfield. Road markings remain a cause for concern. The report highlighted an issue with northbound A90 traffic "trapped" in the right-turn lane. An issue was also highlighted with the road markings on the A85 approach to the roundabout. It stated: "On the roundabout, traffic from the A85 intending to head NB to the A90 was noted during the site visit to confine to one lane, despite there being two lanes available for this traffic. This resulted in a longer queue length than necessary." The Carse of Gowrie Labour councillor welcomes finally being able to read the findings of the "public" safety report and hopes all the recommendations will be implemented soon. Bailie Bailey said: "I requested this because it seemed wrong that the public weren't allowed to see a report that was all about public safety. Specifically, I welcome the report's recommendation that the lane markings be changed coming from Perth direction. So many people have told me that layout is at the very least confusing and at worst dangerous so it's reassuring to see that the experts agree. "My hope is that fixing that will also help traffic flow. I've noticed that when the lights turn green at the moment the second 'straight on' lane doesn't fill fast enough so it's like we only have two lanes, not three at the lights. "Hopefully fixing the problems pointed to in this report resolve the delays and put to bed any talk of turning off the lights. "We have to acknowledge that the junction is far safer for pedestrians now. I'm not a regular user of the junction but have seen three parents with kids in buggies/prams in recent weeks cross the road there. That was not safe before so it's good to see that non-car users are now getting a look-in." A spokesperson for developer Springfield said: "As housebuilders developing new homes in the area, we were asked by the council [Dundee City Council] to upgrade the Swallow Roundabout as part of our planning. "We commissioned third party specialists to design improvements in line with Transport Scotland regulations, including the installation of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings as specifically requested by Dundee City Council. These designs were reviewed by the relevant authorities before any construction took place, and the roundabout improvements have been built in line with the approved design." A spokesperson for Amey, the company operating on behalf of Transport Scotland said the "improvements" to the Swallow Roundabout were part of the planning approval for new homes in the Western Gateway. Amey's spokesperson added: "The roundabout design, which has now been constructed, required the introduction of traffic signal controls and additional running lanes which are necessary to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic and also improve active travel provision at this busy location. "An important part of the new layout features dedicated crossing facilities for those walking and cycling, so people can safely cross the road, even during the busiest times. These features will mean parents, children and commuters will have the facility to walk and cycle from the Dykes of Gray development, whether they are heading to the shops, school or work. "It is likely to take some time for drivers to fully adapt to the new road layout at what is already an extremely busy part of the trunk road network. Road users are encouraged to plan their journeys accordingly as some delays may be anticipated, particularly at peak times. "An independent post-construction road safety audit has been carried out and, along with recent observations made by road users regarding road markings and signs, the recommendations are currently being reviewed and considered by the designer, developer and the roads authority. "Amey, as the operating company on behalf of Transport Scotland, are monitoring the flows of traffic to inform on potential improvements to the functionality whilst ensuring this route is as effective as possible for both motorised and non motorised road users travelling in the area."
