Rhondda Cynon Taf council has finally admitted it spent almost £400,000 in 2010-11 on outside legal advice for two council directorates.
At the same time, the council revealed that during the same period it employed a staff of 11 fee earning solicitors across the authority costing a total of £430,589.
The figures on outside legal advice and other consultants costs were obtained by former Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks after a long battle for the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act which involved the Information Commissioner.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council refused to provide information on how much in total the council spent on consultants, including lawyers, saying it would be too costly but Chris Franks appealed to the Information Commissioner.
The authority has now provided Chris Franks with details of spending on consultants for its corporate services directorate which includes legal and democratic services, and its chief executives’ division, which includes human resources and planning.
Leanne Wood, who represents South Wales Central, including RCT, said:
“Chris has been involved in a long battle for the release of information about consultants’ costs.
“I don’t understand why the council spent this on outside legal advice when they had a team of 11 well-paid lawyers working across the authority’s divisions.”
Chris Franks said: “It’s been a real battle to obtain information from RCT, something which started while I was an Assembly Member. My view is that the council fought hard not to release any information because of the amount being spent, particularly on legal advice.
“The public will question why so much was spent on outside legal advice when they employ so many lawyers. Perhaps, they are not employing lawyers with the right skills set to be able to handle the majority of legal matters.
Pauline Jarman, Plaid leader on Rhondda Cynon Taf council, added:
“Of course, the figures provided by the authority are probably only the tip of the iceberg because RCT council said that providing any information more than from the corporate services directorate and chief executives’ division would be too costly. These costs prove that the council’s use of consultants is more widespread than they would have us believe.
“I remain very surprised that the authority does not have a centralised system which tells them how much is being spent on consultants, including lawyers, rather than the information being kept by various divisions. But perhaps it is convenient for them to do so.
“These costs prove that the Council’s use of Consultants is more widespread than they would have us believe.”
