A TEAM of consultants are being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to help draw up controversial plans to transform the way Essex County Council is run, it is claimed.

A report into council spending has revealed an extra £727,000 was allocated to finance an overspend resulting “from employing consultants in relation to the transformation project”.

The project is looking at offering private firms a contract worth up to £5.8billion to help run the authority’s services, to save £200million a year.

Paul Kirkman, leader of the council’s Labour group, said: “I’m not against an efficient county council.

“I’m not a Luddite, but I don’t see how you deliver these efficiencies when the first thing you do is spend an awful lot of money on consultants.”

A county council spokeswoman said: “We have set ourselves the target of saving £200million over three years. Already we have delivered £34million in savings. However, to ensure we deliver even better value and eliminate wasteful bureaucracy, consultants are helping to establish how and where we can save.”