UK Inquiry Tracker

Government's use of external consultants

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 6 May 2025 Parliament page

The current government’s intention is to halve spending on consultants, with a commitment to producing a strategic workforce plan for the civil service in 2025 that can properly balance the use of civil servants and external resources. The National Audit Office (NAO) in 2025 publishes a lessons learned study for … Read more The current government’s intention is to halve spending on consultants, with a commitment to producing a strategic workforce plan for the civil service in 2025 that can properly balance the use of civil servants and external resources. The National Audit Office (NAO) in 2025 publishes a lessons learned study for government on its use of consultants, laying out the current facts and drawing upon past reports and new research to identify lessons for bodies considering their use. The PAC’s 2016 report found that departments' overall spending on temporary staff had at that time increased by up to 90% since 2011–12, with specialist temporary staff often costing twice as much as permanent staff. The PAC’s 2019 report on Brexit consultancy costs found there had been excessive secrecy over the use of consultants by government, with confusion over how much had actually been spent. Proceeding from the NAO’s 2025 report, the PAC will take evidence from senior government Cabinet Office officials as it scrutinises how government can best use and manage consultants to maximise value for money. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 1 December 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The Committee decides what information to publish and how. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is for the Committee to say whether it will agree. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues. On 13 November this inquiry’s name was changed from Government use of data analytics and external consultants. The Committee will hold a separate session on Government use of data analytics on error and fraud in early 2026. Show less

4 Recommendations

19 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

11 Mar
2026

Report published

71st Report - Government’s use of external consultants

5 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office regarding AI efficiencies, 5 March 2026

2 Feb
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 15 December 2025 on the Governmen…

12 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee's evidence session on 15 December regarding the Governm…

15 Dec
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

15 Dec
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

15 Dec 2025

View on parliament.uk

Andrew Forzani · Cabinet Office Andrew Forzani · Ministry of Defence Cat Little CB · Cabinet Office Mark Leigh · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Rebecca Molyneux · HM Treasury

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
71st Report - Government’s use of external consultants	HC 1521	11 Mar 2026	23	Overdue

Recommendations & Conclusions

23 results

2 Recommendation Accepted

71st Report - Government’s use of …

The Cabinet Office is unable to deliver on its strategic objective to reduce consultancy spend...

The Cabinet Office is unable to deliver on its strategic objective to reduce consultancy spend because departments are not complying with its definitions and directives. The Chief Commercial Officer stated that some departments are not following Government Commercial Function guidance … Read more

Government Response

The Cabinet Office has commissioned the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) to carry out a review of 15 organisations with significant consultancy spending and will write to the Committee with GIAA’s findings and the steps the Cabinet Office will take as a result.

HM Treasury

Government's use of external consultants

Activity timeline 6 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

The Cabinet Office is unable to deliver on its strategic objective to reduce consultancy spend...

The Cabinet Office is unable to demonstrate that the target to halve consultancy spend is...

The Cabinet Office has not provided departments with up-to-date guidance on how to procure, learn...

The soon to be released strategic workforce plan has the potential to be a welcome...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

We questioned whether government has a breakdown of the amount spent on consultancy services in...

We asked about the current processes for improving data quality and reducing labour intensive data...

Inconsistent data prevent departments from understanding which consultants they use, or what skills gaps they...

We asked the Department why there is no uniform definition for consultancy used across government.

The Department said it plans to ensure compliance by departments with standard definitions through a...

The Chancellor’s July 2024 speech set targets to cut consultancy spending, including an immediate halt...

The Cabinet Office told us that central spending controls over consultancy spending were withdrawn in...

The Cabinet Office told us that government is checking and validating the data it receives...

We asked what assurance the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury can give taxpayers that any...

In May 2021, the government established the Government Consulting Hub (GCH) to improve its use...

The Cabinet Office told us that The Consultancy Playbook sets out lessons learned on getting...

However, the Playbook was last updated in 2022 and contains many references to the Government...

We also asked the Cabinet Office about the Government Consulting Hub and its usefulness before...

The Cabinet Office stated that it incorporates and shares lessons from international best practice through...

Workforce planning ensures that organisations have the right level of staff for their needs, with...

Written evidence we received highlighted that government has faced long-standing challenges in developing and retaining...

The Cabinet Office told us that, for the first time, government is developing multi-year strategic...

We asked the Cabinet Office when it expects to publish the new strategic workforce plan.

Government Response AI assessment · 5 of 4 classified

Correspondence 3 letters