Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many consultants his Department has hired in each year since 2016; and what the cost of that process has been to the public purse.
Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure on consultancy staff is published and can be found in Table 9 of the relevant Excel tables relating to the finance and economics annual statistical bulletins for Departmental Resources on the gov.uk website at the link below
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-departmental-resources-index
Information on the number of off-payroll engagements (including consultants) for periods of six months or more is available in the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts at the links below:
2015-16 and 2017-18
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-annual-reports
2016-17
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017