Government Departments: Consultants
(asked on 24th March 2022) - View Source
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spent on external consultants in the tax years (1) 2017–18; (2) 2018–19; (3) 2019–20, (4) 2020–21, and (5) 2021 to date.
It is standard for Government Departments to draw on the advice of external specialists for a range of services. Consultancy includes staff who provide objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation and may include the identification of options with recommendations.
The noble Lord may also be aware that the Consultancy Playbook was published in May 2021 alongside the Sourcing Playbook, to provide additional guidance when sourcing consultancy services. This supports our agenda to commission and engage with consultants more effectively, achieving better outcomes, better value for money, and improved civil service capability through the transferral of knowledge and skills.
Consultancy spend, including ALB spend, is published in departmental annual reports and accounts and is reproduced below.
Department | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
BEIS | £62,600,000 | £63,000,000 | £61,900,000 | £55,700,000 | £137,300,000 |
CO | £10,191,000 | £23,992,000 | £36,893,000 | £38,841,000 | £79,779,000 |
DCMS | £22,900,000 | £18,300,000 | £22,500,000 | £32,900,000 | £46,100,000 |
DFE | £12,100,000 | £14,600,000 | £13,100,000 | £12,700,000 | £8,700,000 |
DEFRA | £22,897,000 | £37,553,000 | £54,542,000 | £33,299,000 | £36,337,000 |
DFT | £78,260,000 | £92,490,000 | £145,562,000 | £168,390,654 | £175,720,840 |
DHSC | £389,301,000 | £370,970,000 | £342,051,000 | £290,206,000 | £485,997,000 |
DIT | Nil | £644,000 | £2,761,000 | £897,000 | £5,782,000 |
DWP | £9,700,000 | £45,300,000 | £28,500,000 | £28,500,000 | £29,000,000 |
FCDO | £800,000 | £1,261,979 | £1,927,753 | £2,936,902 | £2,742,044 |
HMRC | £1,212,806 | £2,957,366 | £3,168,518 | £1,700,000 | £8,600,000 |
HMT | £18,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £15,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £17,000,000 |
HO | £13,348,000 | £12,728,000 | £23,400,000 | £33,700,000 | £32,402,000 |
DLUCH | £156,000 | £405,000 | £3,308,000 | £5,229,000 | £20,148,000 |
MOD | £60,500,000 | £49,955,000 | £65,150,000 | £134,627,000 | £109,668,000 |
MOJ | £15,156,000 | £36,337,000 | £30,572,000 | £14,962,000 | £15,742,000 |
Total | £717,121,806 | £788,493,345 | £850,335,271 | £872,588,556 | £1,211,017,884 |