Review of consultants by council

It was proposed by Alderman Stephen Moutray at Monday night’s council meeting.

He said: “In my opinion the use of consultants in Craigavon Borough Council is excessive and needs to be curtailed drastically.

“In some Departments it has been the practice to appoint consultants to do work that should be done internally. This is unacceptable, especially in the economic era in which we find ourselves. Only this week it came to light that almost £1,000 was spent on a communication focus group in one Council Department.

“I believe that Craigavon Borough Council should only be using consultants in very exceptional circumstances and that all decisions in this respect must come before full Council.

“It is my intention to ensure that the ratepayers of Craigavon get value for money.”