Accountants, lawyers and consultants are being paid £3.7 million to advise Birmingham City Council on its housing stock transfer proposal, it has emerged. Controversial plans to hand over control of about 85,000 local authority flats and houses to ten independent trusts provided Birmingham's professional services sector with a bumper pay day. Figures provided by Dennis Minnis, Cabinet spokesman for housing, show consultants Hacas Chapman Hendy leading the way. The company, which carried out research work for the Birmingham Housing Alliance, the independent body overseeing the ten trusts, is being paid £1.1 million. Accountants Pricewaterhouse-Coopers will receive £346,471 for advising the city council on the transfer. Finance experts KPMG have billed the council for £211,356 for tax advice. Other payments include £334,831 to Pinsents Curtis Biddle for legal advice to the council. Further legal advice, this time to the Birmingham Housing Alliance, from Trowers and Hamlin cost £436,375. Whelpton Jones Associates, who advised the council on its communicating with tenants, is being paid £194,305. Birmingham Cooperative Housing Services, who advised tenants on issues regarding the transfer, received £349,225. The council is also paying FPD Savills £591,785 for carrying out a stock condition survey. Labour councillor Ray Holtom, a council tenant who opposes stock transfer, said consultants and lawyers had enjoyed a "birthday" at the council's expense. Coun Holtom (Lab Weoley) said: "They have ripped us off. For goodness sake, before you spend any more money give it up." Coun Minnis (Lab Edgbaston) admitted that hundreds of city council staff were paid overtime to carry out doorstep consultation interviews with tenants. Officers engaged in the work qualified for time and a half on Mondays to Saturdays and double time on Sundays. Fifty council officers are receiving payments of £3,000 a year each on top of their salaries to act as "business leaders" on the shadow trusts, Coun Minnis said. The council employed outside agencies to provide additional staff to conduct tenants' inter-views. Agency staff are being paid £10.30 an hour. He said 49 agency workers were also being employed in council offices to cover for staff who are working on the stock transfer. Costs varied between £10.50 and £16.50 per hour for the outside staff. **Labour councillor John Tyrrell has asked the district auditor to decide whether a stock transfer video, starring former Aston Villa manager Ron Atkinson, paid for by Birmingham City Council, represented a proper use of public money. Coun Tyrrell (Lab Sandwell) claimed the video, which cost £132,000 to produce, only put the case for transfer and did not amplify arguments against. | 
