Praise for keeping fees low
Invercargill City Council chief executive Michael Day has given a shoutout to his staff for keeping consultant fees down.
Mr Day made the comments during the council's extraordinary meeting on Monday when he was speaking to his pre-election report.
Last week, Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark hit out at the council, saying its aversion to risk had resulted in an "eye-watering" consultants bill.
His comments followed an information request revealing the council had spent more than $7.3 million on consultants in less than three years between July 2022 and December last year.
The numbers were made public on the back of a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request from the Taxpayers' Union, which released the data last week.
It showed $2.58m was spent on consultants for the 12 months to June 2023, $3.23m was spent for the 12 months to June last year and $1.52m was spent for the six months to December last year.
The document showed more than 160 companies were used during the two and a-half years.
Deloitte topped the spending with more than $424,000 for work on reviewing rates, contract compliance, internal audit support and risk and assurance support.
Stantec was next with a figure of more than $396,000 for support with the Bluff wastewater consent.
Mr Clark said the only way to change the situation was to tell staff not to spend large amounts on advice, and for councillors to accept the risk.
"And if we get it wrong, we get it wrong."
At yesterday's meeting, Mr Day said he was proud to praise staff for being able to absorb costs to keep consultants fees as low as possible.
Now the figure had been made public, he highlighted the amount was only "2% of our overall spend over the same period".
The council was in a good position financially but there was always room for improvement, he said.
"We are very much focused on efficiency and effectiveness going forward as an organisation.
"Have been for some time."
— Additional reporting Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporting
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Michael Day. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Invercargill City Council chief executive Michael Day has given a shoutout to his staff for keeping consultant fees down. Mr Day made the comments during the council's extraordinary meeting on Monday when he was speaking to his pre-election report. Last week, Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark hit out at the council, saying its aversion to risk had resulted in an "eye-watering" consultants bill. His comments followed an information request revealing the council had spent more than $7.3 million on consultants in less than three years between July 2022 and December last year. The numbers were made public on the back of a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request from the Taxpayers' Union, which released the data last week. It showed $2.58m was spent on consultants for the 12 months to June 2023, $3.23m was spent for the 12 months to June last year and $1.52m was spent for the six months to December last year. The document showed more than 160 companies were used during the two and a-half years. Deloitte topped the spending with more than $424,000 for work on reviewing rates, contract compliance, internal audit support and risk and assurance support. Stantec was next with a figure of more than $396,000 for support with the Bluff wastewater consent. Mr Clark said the only way to change the situation was to tell staff not to spend large amounts on advice, and for councillors to accept the risk. "And if we get it wrong, we get it wrong." At yesterday's meeting, Mr Day said he was proud to praise staff for being able to absorb costs to keep consultants fees as low as possible. Now the figure had been made public, he highlighted the amount was only "2% of our overall spend over the same period". The council was in a good position financially but there was always room for improvement, he said. "We are very much focused on efficiency and effectiveness going forward as an organisation. "Have been for some time." — Additional reporting Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporting
