Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.

That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.

We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.

We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.