A cash-strapped council will pay consultants £9million to help deliver a major cost-saving plan.

Labour-run Southampton City Council will pay Newton Europe Ltd the seven-figure sum to come onboard as the transformation programme implementation partner.

The firm’s work will mainly focus on adults and health, children’s services, schools and special educational needs and disabilities, but it will also provide support with the wider programme’s strategic delivery.

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The appointment, which could run for four years, was signed off at a council meeting on Wednesday, September 18, despite Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Party councillors voting against.

Cllr Lorna Fielker told a council meeting that Newton had a proven track record, referencing savings delivered at other local authorities including Derbyshire and Lewisham.

Cllr Fielker said: “They sit alongside our people transferring skills and knowledge. They don’t do what many consultants do, which is submit a report and tell you to get on with it and scarper out of the door.”

The work Newton will be involved with is aiming to deliver recurring savings of £30million per year, a report said.

Overall, the transformation programme contains 28 separate projects, which are estimated to deliver £32.05million of savings in 2025/26, increasing to £41.6million in 2028/29.

Cllr Peter Baillie said after the meeting that the Conservative group had a number of concerns, including a lack of communication from the Labour administration.

He said: “There is no detail about how the money is going to be saved. No detail about what jobs are going to be lost.

“The worry is good staff are going to jump because they are concerned about it.”

Cllr Richard Blackman said the Liberal Democrat group he leads voted against the recommendations as the council 'had not really gone out to market to find other alternatives'.

He said: “We are talking substantial sums of money so trying to get best value for Southampton. I think it wasn’t clear from what was presented to us.”

Green Party councillor Katherine Barbour said the cost of the work being done by Newton was “eyewatering”.