CALLS are being made to ban the use of outside consultants at County Hall.

The county council’s Liberal Democrats want a new policy to all but outlaw advisers.

It comes despite the ruling Conservatives insisting it is using them sparingly anyway – and that it could cost more to adopt the ruling.

As your Worcester News revealed last month, the bill for consultants is about £1 million a year, and hit £1.3 million in 2009/10. In 2010/11 it fell to £757,773, the next year it was £1.1 million, and the figure for 2012/13 up to the end of February was £862,574.

Councillor Tom Wells, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: “We want to see the use of consultants banned. I have never understood why we seem to believe we haven’t got the expertise in-house to be doing a lot of this work. Often we say goodbye to staff one day, only to have them back as a consultant.

“I would want to see the presumption against the use of consultants, unless there was absolutely no other way.” Tory chiefs at the council say they are already making it difficult for senior management to take on consultants.

Councillor David Thain, the cabinet member for change, said: “We do make sure consultants have to go through numerous hoops before we take them on. When we hire them they get no sick pay or other benefits, and it’s for something we want doing in a specific period, so we say, ‘This is what we need, you’ve got three weeks’, for example.

“If we take people on full-time to do a big job, like bed in a new piece of software you could be talking £80,000 a year. And what would they do once their job has finished?

“It’s basically a question of making sure the contracts we put these people on are well written so we get best value.”

Most spending was in adult social care, although consultants worked across the council. They include IT experts, children’s consultants and the likes of Rural Routes, which offers landscaping and fencing. Fundi Solutions (new technology), Creative Options (arts policy) and Go Travel Solutions (sustainable travel) are also on the list for 2012/13.