Dundee city councillors have found themselves arguing about legal fees.
The SNP administration has proposed setting up a charitable trust to run leisure and cultural centres, including Caird Hall and the McManus museum and galleries, saving around £400,000 a year in rates.
It was seeking approval to invite bids from outside lawyers to help with the process because it is something the council’s own legal department is not allowed to do.
Administration leader Ken Guild said, “It is absolutely essential that we get the very best legal advice to make it as effective and efficient as possible.”
But some opposition councillors, mostly from Labour, wanted to defer the move until a detailed report on the trust plan comes up for consideration.
Group leader Kevin Keenan said the tender for legal advice should not be put out until councillors were comfortable that creating the trust was the direction they wanted to go in.
His colleague, Richard McCready, said going ahead now would be “putting the cart before the horse” and Conservative Derek Scott said he would prefer to see the whole picture before making a decision.
Council chief executive David Dorward said that putting out the tender for legal advice did not commit the council to any spending at this stage.
He also gave an assurance that no bid would be accepted until the detailed report on the trust proposal had come before elected members for approval.
Mr Guild repeated this pledge, saying, “No money will be spent on lawyers until or unless approval has been given to set up this organisation.”
The councillors then voted 19 to 10 to approve the tender for external legal advice.
Under the proposed scheme, the charitable trust would take over the day-to-day running of services but the buildings that house them would remain under council ownership and control.
The concept is part of the council’s efforts to save around £14 million from its budget for 2011/12.