A contractor employed to help Nottingham City Council balance its books will have been paid up to £373,000 in the space of just over a year. The costly post is just one of many the council has shelled out for as part of its legal duty to become financially stable following the collapse of Robin Hood Energy.
The costs relate to the corporate director of finance, Clive Heaphy, who is also the council's section 151 officer. It was Mr Heaphy who uncovered the "unlawful" payments between Nottingham City Homes and the council, which totalled £15m and must now be paid back.
According to council documents the director of finance had first been paid £139,000 between April 1 and September 31 2021, then an additional £134,000 was granted for an extension to the post between October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. This has now been extended again with another £100,000 (up to) set aside to fund the post up until June 30 this year.
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This means in total the contract, between April 2021 and June 2022, could end up costing up to £373,000 for a single role. Council documents state this interim appointment was secured with Penna in 2020.
These costs come on top of an external financial consultant being paid £110,000 for five months work as well as the interim director for transformation and improvement, Richard Grice, being paid more than £1,000 per day over a 132-day period. The Labour-run authority has - positively - avoided costly Government commissioners, with ministers pleased at the council's own progress, but significant cuts to services are still planned.
Some of these cuts include proposed closures of libraries, the axing of children's centres and a number of bus services. Council tax has also been increased.
The council has argued such drastic measures have been taken because the Government has been decreasing its grants to local authorities since 2010. The cuts to grant funding equate to roughly £100m a year, and local authorities have been left to attempt to raise finances through tax rises as part of the Government's current regime.
Nottingham fares worse on a council tax regime because it has fewer larger homes, meaning less money can be raised. Such constraints come on top of the council's own financial failures, such as Robin Hood Energy, failed investment in intu's Broadmarsh Centre redevelopment and the aforementioned unlawful payments.
Of the additional finances for the contract extension the council says: "A previous contract extension was agreed to allow the city council to progress a permanent appointment to post. This appointment process has recently been undertaken and this extension is to facilitate an appropriate handover until the new appointee commences in post.
"To not extend the contract, however, this would leave a resourcing gap with both the Corporate Director and statutory role of Chief Finance Officer vacated for a period. This option is not viable and was rejected. Contractual notice periods mean that it is not possible to bring forward the date of the permanent appointment."
During a scrutiny committee on April 6 councillors were informed the employment of external contractors will soon be wound down as in-house staff are trained by those costing significant sums. This is being done through a so-called 'Transformation Academy' which cost £500,000.
These contractors were required, the council has said, because it does not yet have adequate internal expertise. Therefore external support has been required.
