Consultants will be brought in to help Peterborough City Council solve financial crisis

The experts, who specialise in the local government sector, will cost the council between £800-900 per person, per day, with up to six persons required at any one time.

Former Chief Executive of Southwark Council, Eleanor Kelly is expected to chair the group.

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In justifying the enormous additional expense at a time when the council is being forced into massive financial savings, council leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald said: “This is a panel of real experts from the local government sector.

“Their remuneration reflects that expertise and the undoubted contribution they will make to our improvement work.

“Those rates are £900 per day for the Chair, and £800 per day for each panel member.

“We will receive and debate their reports at each of our council meetings on a four-monthly basis, and the first meeting of the panel will be on 21 December 2021.”

Peterborough City Council held an Extraordinary Full Council meeting (December 16) to approve a temporary Capital Moratorium Programme that could save up to £9.435m.

Those savings will help towards balancing the budget – a legal requirement – in time for 11 March 2022.

Should the council fail to balance the budget, it risks losing control of its’ finances to central government.