Budget figures relating to private consultants engaged by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) show that almost £100,000 was spent on recovering the council from "special measures" on education.

The interim management team brought on board cost £98,000 with human resources and inspection advice adding to the cost further.

The total of MCC's private consultant revenue spending for departments including health and social care, education, culture and regeneration came in at more than £1.75m in the finincial year 2013/14.

Further consultancy fees took the overall figure to £5.8m.

The Labour group, lead by Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, has responded to these figures by proposing a private consultant spending cap if the party gains control of the council.

Cllr Batrouni said: "The Labour group is determined that the use of expensive private consultants should only be authorised where there is no other option.

"This proposal will form part of Labour proposals to cut spending whilst protecting essential services.

"The Conservatives would have us believe there are no choices. This is wrong. We will protect services to pensioners, disabled children and children with additional learning needs."

As part of the proposal, the Labour Group believes that any spend over the £1.2m cap should only be authorised by the leader of the council. The authorisation should include a signature and a reason as to why breaching the cap was necessary.

Leader of MCC, Peter Fox, responded, saying: "All authorities use professional people from outside the organisation where specific expertise is required.

"The council is very prudent already on how it uses consultants. We simply could not afford to employ all of those we might need in house.

"The council has the lowest number of staff per 1,000 residents by far in Wales and is almost half that of many Labour run councils.

"Using consultants when we need them, keeps our employment costs low and brings the specialisms we need.

"In regard to services, the current financial situation is massively challenging but in this coming year the council will be making another £900,000 available to children's services and we will be protecting school funding at the same level as last year.

"We will continue to find ways to retain valuable services, albeit they may be delivered differently. I would encourage Cllr Batrouni and the Labour group to get meaningfully involved with the budget process rather than just looking for the 'headline grabbers,' as to date their contribution has been minimal."