Consultants add to the confusion

Outside help should only be required when the feasibility of a major infrastructure project is being assessed – or when a specific service is deemed to be "not fit for purpose". "Blank cheques" should no longer be the order of the day.

The latter certainly applies to Doncaster's under-fire children's services department following the deaths of seven children who came under its auspices, and how this dysfunctional directorate missed several glaring opportunities to intervene before two young boys were mercilessly attacked by two brothers in Edlington a year ago.

What will concern taxpayers, however, is the fact that progress overhauling this department's reputation remains painfully slow – even though the council, which remains beset by political infighting, has paid four consultants a total of 750,000 to oversee child protection services in the troubled town.

This expenditure – even extravagant by the public sector's wasteful standards – raises a number of fundamental questions. Who authorised such payments, and why has it taken a Freedom of Information request by

this newspaper for them to come to light?

Why do the payments equate, in some cases, to an annual salary of 290,000 – a sum that far exceeds the Prime Minister's annual pay? What improvements have they achieved? And, if this money was well-spent, why does Doncaster remain beset by scandal and concerns that at-risk children – the most vulnerable members of society – are being afforded insufficient protection?

Given the leadership upheavals at the council, government intervention and this use of consultants, it is little wonder that frontline staff are so disillusioned. They simply do not know who to take their orders from. The high turnover of senior managers means that many decision-makers are unaccountable for their actions.

Once again, this report shows that Doncaster Council desperately needs leadership, efficiency and stability. Worryingly, none of these characteristics applies to the authority in its present form.