THANET council has spent nearly £1 million on consultants in a three-year period.

Between 2004 and 2007 the council forked out £889,587 on contractors to deal with issues including: £61,300 to manage tourism services; £23,388 to carry out a council housing inspection; and £11,000 to assess accommodation needs for gypsies and travellers.

Finance boss Martin Wise said the council needs consultants to help it understand new Government legislation being introduced and the authority not having officers with the skills to deal with it.

He said: "We use consultants sparingly and it’s cheaper to bring them in for a couple of months rather than having someone with their skills on staff. Government is bringing in new legislation and requirements for the council and we don’t have the expertise in house.

"We use these people to unravel the legislation and how to proceed with it. They do the donkey work. These are huge pieces of work that take a lot of time and all our officers have a day job to do and we don’t have the people to do the work.

"Local government is about core services, but it’s the old trick: Government gives you funding and then pull it and you have to find a way of funding it yourself. Then you have the choice of getting rid of it [the service] and making yourself unpopular or keeping it and paying for it.

"I’d like to pull in all the discretionary spending but you’re talking about ending Thanet Leisureforce, funding for the beaches, the playgrounds, the Visitor Information Centres – everything the public likes."

The Theatre Royal received £21,600 in management help in 2007 after it was sold to Thanet council after the trust which ran the theatre fell into financial trouble.

Council leader Sandy Ezekiel argues that central government should let local authorities get on with the job rather than bogging them down with unnecessary spending.

He said: "It’s small little things like the decriminalisation of parking. We have to pay to enforce parking regulations. The police used to deal with it but the budget for that wasn’t shifted over. The wardens do a stunning job but should we be paying for it?

"I don’t think in this climate we should be cutting back on discretionary services because regeneration is key to job growth."

One such discretionary service is Margate’s Big Event which costs £175,000 to put on and costs the tax payer £40,000.

Cllr Ezekiel argues that with 60,000 visitors and at least a third of them visiting the isle it makes the money well spent.

He added: "If you run a business you would hire an accountant to deal with your accounts and it’s no different for us. Sometimes in the short term it’s better to do that."

Campaign director for the Taxpayers’ Alliance Mark Wallace said council’s should focus on its responsibilities rather than branching out.

He said: "Everyone recognises that very specialist projects will require a consultant but when such large amounts are spent it is concerning for people.

"There’s a great danger that the council can spread itself to thinly. The key services that people want when they see their council tax bill going through the roof should come first and people want to see their money spent wisely."

A selection of spending.

• £12,075 on the development of a Sports Strategy and Children’s Play Strategy.

• £17,000 to consider VAT implications of New Partnership.

• £2,950 to provide advice on VAT.

• £2,781 for a Best Value survey.

• £2,962 to produce questions for Best Value survey.

• £5,000 to advise on elections.

• £11,000 to carry out needs assessment for gypsy sites.

• £44,018 to carry out negotiations with Thanet Leisure Force to develop a cultural strategy.

Value for money?

One of the biggest spends on consultants was £61,300 to manage tourism services.

When Thanet council’s tourism manager left, the authority decided to run its tourism services through Visit Kent.

This service, the council say, offered it more than a member of staff could including photography services, regeneration services and tourism press management.

A spokesman said: "We have achieved a degree of exposure at Kent and regional level that would not have been possible on our own. This has led to Thanet's coast featuring heavily on Visit Kent's own marketing, including the front cover of their magazine, and being the lead images on the London

"Outdoor campaigns with our coast getting the highest recognition and recollection factor. Through Visit Kent for a small amount of money we have achieved a nearly 20:1 conversion rate which has led to approaching £250,000 of marketing activity, which we could not have afforded otherwise."