Trouble-shooters tasked with improving Nottingham City Council are raking in up to £1,012 a day.
The authority has so far splashed out £5.5m in an effort to steady their finances and enhance the workplace.
This comes after the council admitted it does not have enough expertise among internal staff so had to look elsewhere.
Nottingham City Council Leader, Coun David Mellen, said: “I appreciate that when the council is facing financial difficulties, the costs of appointing external consultants may appear counter-intuitive.
“However, the council is in a position where it needs to urgently make significant changes and improvements to the way we operate.
“Where this work is specialised or we don’t have the necessary capacity within the council, we need to bring in external expertise.
“It seems like a waste of money to me”
Celia Mitchell, 32
“Often this work is for shorter periods only so it makes more economic sense to have people working on these specific projects with temporary contracts rather than as permanent staff so they can drive and direct the required changes which will leave us a better, more efficient council.”
Nottingham City Council is unable to borrow money following the collapse of Robin Hood Energy however the government has loaned it £20 million to fund the external consultants and any recovery tactics.
It has been proposed that £6.5 million will be spent on consultants to improve children’s services which have been rated as inadequate by Ofsted in July 2022.
Celia Mitchell, 32, a nurse from Sherwood said: “I know we pay the highest council tax in the country but I don’t know what there is to show for it, I can’t really see any investment in the city.
“It doesn’t really sit right with me, surely they should know their job, it seems like a waste of money to me!”
Diabetic eye screener Douglas Celvert, 32, from Sneinton said: “That’s how it always is isn’t it.
“The money could stop independent shops from closing but they have done a lot of stuff around where I live in Sneinton Market.”
Nottingham City Council was recently unsuccessful in their bid to secure £57 million through the government’s levelling up scheme.
Its bid for £20 million to restore the Broad Marsh centre was rejected leaving the council in a difficult position.
Pat, 83 from Derbyshire said: “I think it’s dreadful.
“Derbyshire got quite a lot of money (from the Levelling Up scheme) we’ve done very well out of it.
“There was talk about amalgamating Derbyshire and Nottingham – we rejected, strongly.”
Ashfield, Broxtowe, Bassetlaw and Mansfield district councils were distributed money after being successful in the Levelling Up bid.
