SURREY County Council’s spending on consultants has more than doubled from the previous year, it has been revealed.

Following an information request to the county council by Hazel Watson, leader of the council’s Lib Dems group, it was revealed that Surrey’s spending on consultants rose 118 per cent from £305,000 in 2015/16 to £663,420 in 2016/17.

Mrs Watson said: “At a time when the county council is under extreme financial pressure and cutting vital services, spending on consultants should not be going up and certainly not by 118 per cent.

“The Conservative administration cannot on the one hand say they have been forced to cut services because there is a lack of funding and at the same time double spending in areas such as this.

“This use of consultants needs to be brought under control and scrutinised to assess whether this expenditure is really necessary.”

Responding, a Surrey County Council spokesman said: “There will be occasions when we need people with specialist skills on a short-term basis to do important jobs that aren’t needed full-time.

“We only do this when the work leads to Surrey residents receiving a better service and council taxpayers getting better value for money.”