Belfast Region City Deal: over £2.6m on consultancy fees for projects in Mid and East Antrim

The figures were revealed at the September meeting of the local authority in response to a tabled question from UUP councillor, Alan Barr.

"According to the Council’s latest figures from a recent FoI [Freedom of Information] request, the three Belfast Region City Deal projects, i4C, Carrickfergus Regeneration and The Gobbins Phase 2, have, in total, incurred £2,684,874.95 in consultancy fees," Cllr Barr said.

"Can officers confirm whether any further consultancy fees are anticipated as a result of any additional costs, project changes, delays, contract extensions or additional work, and, if so, what measures are being taken to ensure that any further expenditure represents value for money for ratepayers?"

In a written response, council officers said consultancy spending was “essential” to the delivery of large-scale capital schemes, with specialist teams required to design and deliver the facilities.

They also confirmed that the contracts allow consultants to receive additional fees where a project’s scope changes or its duration is extended, adding: "This is standard practice as a consequence of both scenarios is additional work for the consultant team.

"All fees associated with current changes to scope and timescales of the City Deal projects have been accounted for in the current budgets for the projects, which were agreed as part of the rates setting process for this financial year. Seventy percent of all spend on City Deal including that on consultancy fees is recoverable from the external funders."

It added that assurance of value for money can be given to rate payers as the consultancy services had provided “crucial support” in securing £60m in external funding to help part finance the City Deal programme in the borough.

Meanwhile, "social clauses" within the consultants' teams contracts have enabled design teams to provide employment opportunities to people with additional needs, long term unemployed, and apprenticeship opportunities.

Cllr Barr also queried if Elected Members would be given the opportunity to vote on whether each project should proceed before additional consultation expenditure is incurred.

Speaking at the meeting, Programme Director Jonathan McGrandle indicated that all projects in City Deal were currently on budget, adding: "The current costs include all forecasted consultancy spend at this minute in time. The projects are regularly monitored in terms of their costs and there are reviews undertaken both by my team, the consultants and Construction Procurement Delivery, who are appointed by the funder to provide assurances around the cost as well.

"Also, the project budgets contain really healthy pots for risk, inflation, and optimism bias as well so that in the eventuality of any cost increases, as best as is reasonably practicable we have tried to preempt that and include an allowance for future uplifts. But certainly if the projects were to creep outside of the current approved budgets, it would be standard practice to bring the projects back as we've done in the past for Elected Members to seek that correction on how they should go forward."