COUNCIL chiefs have hit back at claims they wasted more than £24,000 on two investigations into disciplinary matters involving staff.

Durham County Council employed private company Broadsword Consultants to investigate allegations involving the former head of its Youth Engagement Service, Christina Blythe.

Broadsword, which is understood to be run by two former police detectives, also advised on a disciplinary case involving a caretaker who was sacked following allegations of bullying, which were denied.

The cost of both investigations amounted to £24,325.

Mrs Blythe was dismissed in January on the grounds of gross misconduct, following what the council described as a lengthy and complex investigation, having been suspended on full pay for more than a year.

Weardale county councillor John Shuttleworth, who uncovered the cost, questioned why the investigations were not handled by the authority.

He said: "It is just a total waste of public money - our money."

Last night Kim Jobson, the council's head of human resources, said: "We refute any suggestion that engaging the services of Broadsword Consultants to assist with our inquiries in these two cases involved a waste of public money.

"Only those people who know the full complexity and seriousness of the issues involved would be in a position to make that sort of judgement.

"As we have said on a previous occasion, in common with businesses and organisations in both the private and public sector, we employ consultants to provide expertise where it does not exist in-house and, when necessary, to supplement existing expertise where it does. Tapping into external sources of specialist expertise when the need arises, rather than engaging it permanently on our payroll, is sound business and economic sense.

"The engagement of independent, external specialists to assist with these particular cases helped ensure thoroughness, absolute probity and scrupulous fairness."

A spokesman for Broadsword Consultants said it offered a bespoke service to organisations investigating fraud, corruption and misconduct.

He said: "This is a specialised and often complex area of investigation which should, wherever possible, only be undertaken by properly trained professional investigators who have the relevant experience.

"Most reasonably minded people would recognise the efficiency and effectiveness of not diverting senior council managers from the jobs they are trained to do and putting them into investigative roles, for which they have neither training nor expertise.

"I would hope that Coun Shuttleworth is as anxious as others in Durham County Council clearly are to ensure that potentially damaging allegations of professional misconduct in the public sector are investigated thoroughly, effectively and as professionally as possible."