CONTROVERSIAL plans to privatise key council services could cost the council taxpayer up to £187,000 more, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Council finance bosses will have to spend the extra cash on additional research by consultants into the scheme after a full council meeting last week that forced civic leaders to look into contracting out services to telecommunications giant, BT as well as the Capita consortium.

Originally, the ruling Liberal Democrat administration had hoped that the plans to contract out services with the Capita group would be in place by January.

However, Tory members argued at full council that savings that would have been achieved by Capita if the council were to contract out its services to the consortium were too low.

Instead, they forced Lib Dems to consider a second bid from BT which means that it will be in March next year before a "preferred bidder'' finally puts forward plans for privatisation.

A final decision on the scheme is likely to take place late next year.

The revised timetable for the plans, which sparked mass protests among council staff, were rubber-stamped by Lib Dem Cabinet members yesterday.

City council Cabinet member for communities and regeneration Councillor Liz Mizon said: "This change is going to cost us.

"It is going to cost us officer time. If, at the end of the process, we do come out with a better deal, it will be money well spent. In reality, you get what you pay for."

However, Tory group leader Councillor Alec Samuels told members that his group did not believe that investigating the BT bid would take as long as feared, or cost as much.

He said: "We don't believe that it would necessarily cost this amount of money, or take this amount of time."

City council leader Councillor Adrian Vinson said officers must be given the time and the resources to do the job properly.

He said: "This is probably one of the most important issues we will have to decide."

The controversial proposals will see around 800 council jobs in IT, human resources, council tax, housing offices and procurement privatised if the scheme is given the eventual go-ahead