A FORMER Worcestershire County Council worker is to be paid £750 a day to act as a consultant, it has emerged.

Bosses at County Hall have come under fire after it emerged a lucrative deal has been agreed worth £6,000 a month for just two days work a week.

The consultant, who has not been named, has taken on a six-month offer to oversee a huge project to merge public sector buildings across the county and sell off unwanted sites.

The massive task, which has been called the Place Partnership, has been signed off by Government ministers and includes the likes of police and fire service as well as councils, with the task of saving £75 million by 2025.

The consultant will earn £36,000 across the six month deal.

It has been criticised by Labour group leader Councillor Peter McDonald, who says it "beggars belief".

"It really does beggar belief that the county council can insult its residents this way," he said.

"It is scandalous and I have asked for a full explanation from the chief executive.

"This is more than most people can earn in two weeks, let alone a day.

"Residents need money to be spent on improving services, not throwing sheds of monies on an unwanted consultant."

But the council's chief executive Clare Marchant said it was aimed at achieving smarter and more commercial ways of managing public sector property to help taxpayers.

She has also insisted every pound saved on property will be pumped into frontline services.

"We’re now entering a critical period in creating this new company and ensuring we have people with the right specialist skills to manage that set-up is crucial to its success," she said.

"It’s important to note the programme director is a temporary appointment who will cease to work on (the) place partnership once the managing director has taken over."

She said the funding is being shared across a number of different bodies, including a Government contribution, with the county council's direct bill being less than £270 a week.

The project includes district councils in Worcester and Redditch, police forces in Warwickshire and West Mercia, the fire service and county council.

It is believed to be the first public sector deal of its kind in history, with up to 200 staff due to be employed to work on it, examining the future of hundreds of pieces of property.

Initial interviews took place in mid-April over appointing a managing director, with the final selection process then kicking off at the start of May.