Yesterday Government announced it will pay consultants $800,000 to draft a review of the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George's and implement any changes.

The news came two months after civil servants were ordered to implement "austere cost savings" — including banning first and business class travel and a freeze on hiring new consultants — for the rest of the financial year.

However yesterday, Minister Walter Roban said $800,000 has been budgeted to cover two law firms who have been hired to do the reforms "from formulation of recommendations to implementation."

When asked why the law firms had been hired in light of the Cabinet directive to trim budgets and not hire any new consultants, Mr. Roban said: "This decision was made last June to hire them.

"It was always Government's intention to appoint a third party to carry out a detailed review of all aspects of the Municipalities."

And when asked how Government could justify spending nearly a million dollars on consultants to deal with the municipalities Mr. Roban said: "We believe it is justified given the recent history we have seen with both Corporations.

"The Municipalities Act has not been substantially reformed since 1923. Parts of it are archaic."

He added that he was committed to overseeing the entire reform period and ensure tax payers money was used wisely.