Leeds Council to spend £12m on private consultants – to help them save cash
Leeds City Council to pay almost £12m to private consultants - to help save cash
A private consultancy firm will be paid almost £12m to help Leeds City Council cut costs in its social care and housing departments.
The local authority has hired Newton Consulting to help manage the rising cost of support for vulnerable children and adults.
A two-year contract will see the company assist the council in reducing the number of young people in care.
The council also hopes more adults with health problems will be helped to live independently instead of being placed in costly residential homes.
The deal is worth £6m a year but is designed to help the local authority save £45.8m in the longer term. The contract could be extended for a further 24 months.
The council said Newton was selected following a “robust procurement process.”
A spokesperson said: “Their staff will work alongside council teams, with a mix of on-site and remote support.
“The contract is structured so that savings will exceed the cost of the programme.”
A council report said the contract would help reduce the number of homeless families needing temporary accommodation paid for by the authority.
Hiring Newton as a “strategic partner” would reduce the number of expensive residential care placements outside the city for vulnerable children.
The report said: “The initial contract term will be 24 months, with options to extend subject to performance.”
Newton Consulting previously helped with the council’s HomeFirst programme. The scheme was designed to speed up the discharge of hospital patients and saved more than £20m per year, the council said.
The spokesperson said: “But to deliver this at the pace and on a greater scale, we are bringing in specialist support, utilising expertise and additional capacity to achieve our goals while ensuring front-line services continue to operate effectively.”
The council said Newton would provide cost-saving expertise that could not be delivered in-house.
The report said: “The council is facing unprecedented demand pressures across key services, resulting in significant operational and financial challenges.”
On its website Newton Consulting said it had been commissioned for contracts in the health, housing, transport and defence sectors around the world.