Mike Fletcher – Page 4 – The New Listener

Peterborough City Council Consultants Audit Commission Section 15

The former Chairman of Peterborough City Council’s Scrutiny Committee Cllr. Mike Fletcher intends to set up an independent inquiry into the use and value for money of consultants within Peterborough City Council under Section 15 of the Audit Commission Act 1998. This quotation clarifies one issue at the heart of this debate.

It is apparent from the judgment in Veolia, that considerations relating to commercial sensitivity and confidentiality will not be relevant to the decision as to whether documents may be inspected under s. 15.
Panopticon November 11th 2009

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Letter from Mike Fletcher

The following message was received today from Mike Fletcher Chairman of the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee who was reportedly barred by Peterborough City Council Leader Marco Cereste from the Task and Finish Group set up to investigate Peterborough City Council’s use of and spending on consultants.
It is published here as a matter of public interest. Copyright remains with Cllr. Fletcher.

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Att:- Adam Uren, ET. New Listener. 27th April 2010.
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Peterborough City Council and Consultants Part Three – for research purposes only

The relationship between Peterborough City Council and consultants is becoming a cause for concern for some councillors. This page examines the latest announcements.

Continued from Part Two

The following documents all dated 20 October 2009 are in the public domain:

1. Peterborough regulates spend on consultants. Link
2. Realising the benefits of business transformation. Link
3. Creating a value-adding human resources service. Link
4. Transforming the way we work to cut cost and improve performance: . Link

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In 2008 Peterborough City Council established a professional services partnership (PSP), to consolidate and regulate its spending on consultancy.
Consultants “landed and expanded”, often taking roles that should be filled internally.
Consultancy was poorly and often non-compliantly procured. Continue reading “Peterborough City Council and Consultants Part Three – for research purposes only”

Peterborough City Council and Consultants Update – for research purposes only

The relationship between Peterborough City Council and consultants is becoming a cause for concern for some councillors. This is an update on events up until 16th March 2010.

Continued from Part One

USE OF CONSULTANTS – SCRUTINY REVIEW
1. PURPOSE & BACKGROUND
1.1 This report has been prepared following a series of scrutiny meetings.
At a meeting of the Environment Capital Scrutiny Committee on 14th January 2010, to discuss the proposed council budget, the subject of use of consultants arose. The minutes of this meeting are attached at
Appendix 1.
It was agreed that the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee be recommended to undertake an in-depth scrutiny review into the cost and effectiveness of the Council’s use of consultants and to make recommendations on the future use of consultants by the council to inform the development of budgets in future years.
Although not referred to in the minutes, the Executive Director – Strategic Resources, offered to meet with the Chair of the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee to prepare the terms of reference for the review. That meeting did not take place and at its meeting held on 18th January 2010 the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee produced a list of questions which it asked to be answered,
Quoted from this document: Use of Consultants – Scrutiny Review

===================== Continue reading “Peterborough City Council and Consultants Update – for research purposes only”

Interview with Mike Fletcher March 16th 2010

Interview with Cllr Mike Fletcher Chairman Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee Peterborough City Council following the meeting on Monday 15th March 2010 where Council was invited to account for it’s spending on consultants. Broadcast at 07:45 on 16th March 2010 in Paul Stainton’s BBC Peterborough Breakfast Show.

PS: Now a review has begun into the amount of money the City Council spends on consultants. You may remember last week we broke the news that we’d spent something like .. was it nine million or something like that I don’t know? It was a million pounds a month, wasn’t it? Something like that. Five councillors will now spend six months looking at the cost of experts, and the amount of money they save the Council. It was twelve million, wasn’t it? We revealed on the Breakfast Show that it was twelve million for this financial year and Cllr. Mike Fletcher is Chairman of the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee. Morning Mike.
MF: Good morning.
PS: The purpose of the meeting?
MF: Well to enquire into the use of consultants, and see just how effective they are. I can assure you that if I have anything to do with it, it’s not going to take six months, more like six weeks.
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BBC Peterborough March 16th 2010

BBC Radio Peterborough Breakfast Show summary for Tuesday 16th March 2010

Topics:
Council leaders answer Members’ questions about their spending on consultants.
Scheme launched to provide needle bins for drug users around the town after churchyard problems.
Central Park Tea Rooms are open for business.
Health guru cautions against vitamins.
Orton Wistow Rocker releases album for charity.
Peterborough United big news day. Chairman will speak following talks with manager..
Kidnapped Oldham boy found safe and well in Pakistan.
National Gamete Donation Trust targets sports fans in donation drive.
The Cheltenham Festival is underway.

Interviewees:
Mike Fletcher Cllr. and Chairman Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee.
Karen Kibblewhite Safer Peterborough Partnership.
Vincent Terranova Buttercross Tea Rooms.
Michael van Straten Health Guru.
Father David Jennings All Souls Geneva Street.
Paddy Power Bookmaker.
Paul Johnson Sheffield-based Peterborough United Fan and owner of Brian the Pig.
Pip Morris National Gamete Donation Trust.
Mick Fry (aka Mich Cochrane) Orton Wistow Rocker.

Companies mentioned: Boss Micro.

Team:
Presenter: Paul Stainton
Producer: Steve Titman
Sport: Chris Osborne
News: Susie Roberts
Travel: Justin Peterson
Weather: John Gray
Phones: Kerry Devine
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BBC Peterborough March 8th 2010

BBC Radio Peterborough programme summary for Monday 8th March 2010

Presenter: Paul Stainton
Producer: Ben Stevenson

Topics: Council leader sets out his defence in the cash for consultants investigation. Panorama report shows Peterborough NHS miscertified in 75% of standards checks. Peterborough United manager reviews his situation. PCSU strikes underway against changes to redundancy terms. Accusations of electioneering around the Afghan conflict. OSCAR reports. Inside Out preview: Stilton cheese wrangle. New household recycling centre proposed for south of city. RSA launches “Citizen Power” initiative in Peterborough. Six local venues accept lightbulbs and batteries for recycling.

Interviewees: Mike Fletcher Cllr. and Chairman Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee. Hugh Lanning Deputy General Secretary Public and Commercial Services Union. Marco Cereste Cllr. and Council Leader. Angus Ellis Public and Commercial Services Union. Peterborough United FC Club Mascot “Peter Burrow”. Leslie Ebbetts Fashion Journalist.

Brands Mentioned: Tesco. Morrisons. Aldi. Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association. Atkins. Amtec Consulting.

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Interview with Mike Fletcher: 1st March 2010

Andy Gall interviewing Peterborough City Cllr. Mike Fletcher on BBC Radio Peterborough at 07:10 am 1st March 2010 icw a legal challenge to the release of details of payments made by Peterborough City Council to consultants.

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AG: It has emerged that Peterborough City Council, it’s rumoured that it’s spending nine million pounds a year on expert consultants. The figure has gone up. Last year it was revealed that the local authority spent eight million pounds on consultants and temporary staff between July 2007 and June 2008. At the time it said that employing consultants actually saves the council money. And Councillor Mike Fletcher is Chairman of the Sustainable Growth Scrutiny Committee.and joins us now. Good morning Mike.
MF: Good morning to you.
AG: Thank you, well we’ll play this with a straight bat. So you were told the figure by the City Council’s Head of Finance weren’t you.
MF: Finance, that’s right, and er if I could tell you the background to this, like many other councillors, I share a serious concern over the council’s use of, and reliance upon consultants. At a Scrutiny Co-ordination meeting, held on the 27th. January, I was told by the Head of Finance that last year the Council paid consultants a total of £9 million pounds. And work that out, that is £750,000 per month, or the equivalent of 90 senior managers on £100,000 a year. neither is this a one-off payment. Similar amounts have been paid, year after year.
AG: So why is there a culture of this, then? What do you put it down to?
MF: Well, I er I don’t know. And that’s why I’ve asked these questions. I want some answers, so that we all know. There may be a very good reason for consultants to be employed. But if we don’t know, then it seems, it remains a mystery, doesn’t it?
AG: We’ve been told that the consultancy firm in question is threatening legal action, if the Council reveals what it’s being used for.
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