AN independent report has exposed serious concerns over spending on consultants at Worcestershire County Council - including people working without insurance checks, no evidence over value for money and practises so lacklustre there are fears of Government fines.

Your Worcester News can reveal how for the second time in 18 months, an auditor has publicly criticised the council for its handling of hiring in outside help.

Some of the failings are remarkably similar to the problems of 2014, with angry councillors warning the authority's leadership to "get a grip".

In three of the last five years the council has spent in excess of £1 million a year using consultants in a bid to get outside help.

But the auditor's report reveals:

- Managers "across the organisation" were ignoring strict rules on hiring people, despite repeated reminders and warnings from senior bosses

- Cases were found of "no records" of work being signed off at the required level

- People working for the council with no insurance checks in seven of 15 samples, and some even without written contracts

- In seven cases the spending had "exceeded" what was agreed when each contract was originally signed - Consultants hired where "competitive procurement processes had not been followed", making it "difficult" to establish whether it was value for money

- Checks not being done to confirm the employment status of some consultants before making payments, leaving the council "vulnerable" to HMRC fines

- Breaches of a strict in-house code, including deals being arranged without "clear" and "measurable" aims

Auditors also sampled 15 cases where only four had completed proper paperwork requiring bosses to spell out the rationale for hiring someone and getting proper sign off - and even then it was done after they had started, or in some cases had finished their work.

In one case they found a deal which started in 2010 had racked up costs of £157,40 without approval from a senior cabinet member, director or head of service, when in fact all three's signatures were required.

Another consultant, hired to work on activities for young people and housing, had earned £183,339 from taxpayers with no competitive search for the right person or records of it being signed off.

One insurance cock-up involved a consultant hired with cover worth up to £100,000 when the sum required for the job was not less than £1 million.

Another consultant was hired with a contract worth £12,850 and was still going £157,740 later.

The overall assessment from the assessors was that despite having a "good control framework" of rules, the operation of it was considered "weak".

Its detailed findings also highlighted how regularly staff were being reminded to follow the rules by senior management, including chief executive Clare Marchant, but said despite that "there continues to be a high level of non-compliance".

In the last three years the cash-strapped council has spent more than £2.6 million on hiring outside consultants, but in the last financial year it fell from just over £1 million to around £600,000.

*To see the auditor's report for yourself click HERE.

REACTION: COUNTY HALL’S POLITICAL PARTIES IN CONSULTANCY FALL-OUT

THE findings have been heavily criticised by County Hall's opposition Labour party, with group leader Councillor Peter McDonald calling it "shocking".

In return, the Tory leadership has pointed to drastic falls in spending for outside help and has insisted that things are better now than in 2014, when auditors came back with similar findings.

Councillor McDonald said: "This not the first time hundreds of thousands of pounds has been spent on consultants without the proper checks and balances.

"Nearly 50 per cent of consultants had not even been checked out to ensure they had the appropriate insurance.

"We were all assured after the last time that measures would be introduced to ensure there would never be a repeat, and here we are.

"Quite frankly they need to get a grip of the situation."

He told your Worcester News he’d be taking it up with the leadership, calling it “alarming”.

“I never thought we’d see something like this again after last time,” he said.

But Tory Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, said: "We continually look to secure the best value for money for our residents and on occasion that means we bring in external expertise to help us to achieve the best outcomes.

"We take care to ensure that we select the right specialists for the right jobs at the right price.

"We are spending less on outside consultants now than we used to, in fact last year our bill for bringing in external expertise was down by 33 per cent.

"The figures for the first half of this year show that we are spending less again.

"Our policy is to hire consultants for a fixed period of time.

"This audit acknowledges we have made improvements to our processes in recent years and that we now have a strong control framework in place.

"But we have to do more and we need to improve further, it’s clear that some ambiguity remains and we are resolving that.

"We know we still have work to do to make sure that every hiring manager in the organisation understands the definition of a consultant and complies with the framework.

"We have put steps in place to make sure that happens."

The term consultants is what the council calls “particular expertise” for projects where it “does not possess the skills or resources in-house” - and excludes spending on agency staff or routine services like gulley cleaning, maintenance or cleaning.

* Consultancy shambles at the council - see our report on this from 18 months ago HERE.