Blackpool Council spends £3.5m on external consultants

Payments of just over £3.5m were made to external consultants by Blackpool Council last year with the biggest bill being £1.4m to experts for advice about the multiversity.

Regeneration projects were the main reason for large consultancy fees, with £465,000 going towards work on the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone and £236,000 for the tramway extension.

The £3.5m total for 2023/24 is an increase from the previous year when just over £3m was paid out to external consultants. It also includes smaller payments including £14,000 to Llewelyn-Bowen Design Associates. The designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen regularly produces work as part of the Illuminations.

The council said the use of consultants made sense because their expertise was only needed for certain projects, so it would not be worth employing them in-house.

Alan Cavill, director of communications and regeneration at the council, told a meeting of the Tourism, Economy and Communities Scrutiny Committee projects like the Enterprise Zone encompassed many different elements including sports pitches, roads, new buildings, landscaping and a solar farm.

He said: “If we had 20 different experts within these fields we would only use them a few times a year. So the Enterprise Zone is a very good microcosm of why we do have consultants.”

A report to the committee adds: “Due to limited resources, specialist technical knowledge and capacity, the council would be unable to fulfil all of its statutory requirements and deliver its capital programme without the advice and support of external consultants.

“For some projects the use of consultants is critical. In some instances the funding we receive from external agencies can require the council to engage third party expertise to ensure the security of the funding.

“Because these services are project specific, demand is not constant; employing these experts on a full-time basis would not be cost effective.”

Consultancy spending includes – Multiversity – £1.4m including on structural engineers and planning; Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone – £465,000 including infrastructure and utilities; Tramway extension – £236,000 including professional fees and emergency works; Grundy Art Gallery – £217,000 including for a feasibility study; Showtown museum – £178,000 including towards exhibition content; Blackpool Airport – £99,000 including the masterplan review; and Anchorsholme sea wall – £29,000 in relation to a legal claim.