THE city council's Lib Dem administration has been questioned over how much it is spending on a contract.

Last year it appointed property advisors JLL, supported by Arup, as its strategic placemaking consultant to support the implementation of its regeneration projects in the city centre.

But now, Cllr Kim Gottlieb is asking how much money the council will be using.

At a meeting on July 8, he asked: "Days before the Conservatives lost control of the council in May 2019, they awarded a contract to JLL for strategic place-making consultancy services.

"The contract is worth £2,500,000. When I challenged this amount, I was advised that the fee would be capped at £600,000. I understand that this cap has now slipped up to £1,200,000.

"Can the cabinet member please provide a comprehensive schedule detailing how much has been paid to JLL to date; how much more we are committed to pay for work already commissioned; and how much has been charged for what services on which projects?”

Cabinet member for housing and asset management Kelsie Learney responded. She said: "JLL, with Arup as a partner, were procured in open Official Journal of the European Union compliant competition.

" Under this procurement approach the contract maximum value was specified as £2.5m. The contract is a call-off contract for specific advice and work in line with the specification as and when needed.

"The council is not committed to any level of expenditure with JLL. The current approved budget is £600k."

So far, the total spend is £244,771.

Cllr Learney also said she was "baffled" by Cllr Gottlieb's question, saying she had provided the figures to him before the meeting.

She added that not every detail could be provided to the public as the council does not share certain commercial information.