Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by the Law Officers' Departments in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

In 2013-14 Professor Shute was paid £2,286.30 and Dr Tapley was paid £1,735.70 for consultancy services to HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). There has been no other consultancy spend within that financial year by HMCPSI, the Treasury Solicitor's Department or the Attorney General's Office.

The two companies listed below are the only organisations to have been paid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for consultancy work during the last financial year.

SCC £32,316

CIO Partnership Ltd £2,100

Inaddition, two individuals carried out consultancy work for the SFO. The total amount paid for this work was £13,812

The table below details payments made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consultancy firms during the last financial year.

This information has been produced from the CPS accounting system, analysing spend against account codes for consultancy and professional services. Expenditure may include some payments for services not covered by the Crown Commercial Service Consultancy Value Programme definition of consultancy but provided by companies categorised as a consultancy firm. Excluded are payments for professional services supplied by third parties not classified as a consultancy firm such as employment agencies, training providers, solicitors, ICT managed service suppliers and freelance consultants engaged directly by the department.