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

9 Recommendations

14 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

3 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 5 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

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

15 Dec 2025

View on parliament.uk

Andrew Forzani · Ministry of Defence Andrew Forzani · Cabinet Office 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	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results

5 Recommendation Deferred

71st Report - Government’s use of …

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

The soon to be released strategic workforce plan has the potential to be a welcome step to support better use of consultants. The Cabinet Office told us that all departments are complying with requests to update their strategic workforce plans, … Read more

Government Response

The Cabinet Office intends to publish the Civil Service Strategic Workforce Plan as soon as possible, once the further work on technology and AI has been completed to inform it.

HM Treasury

View details

21 Recommendation Deferred

71st Report - Government’s use of …

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

Written evidence we received highlighted that government has faced long-standing challenges in developing and retaining core skills, and recommends not only building up civil service capability and capacity where skills are repeatedly needed but also providing training in the effective … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation to build civil service capability and provide training, stating that these issues are being addressed within the Civil Service Strategic Workforce Plan (SWP), which is currently being reworked alongside a plan for technology and AI and will be published as soon as possible by Summer 2026 after this work is completed.

HM Treasury

View details

23 Recommendation Deferred

71st Report - Government’s use of …

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

We asked the Cabinet Office when it expects to publish the new strategic workforce plan. It told us that there is no confirmed publication date at present, but it hoped the government would be able to release the plan within … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees to publish the Civil Service Strategic Workforce Plan by Summer 2026 but states it is being reworked alongside a wider plan for technology and AI and will be published as soon as this further work is completed.

HM Treasury

View details

Government Response AI assessment · 21 of 9 classified

Accepted 15

Acknowledged 3

Deferred 3

Total 9 recs + 14 conclusions

Correspondence 3 letters

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

Parliament page

2 Feb 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee’s evidence session on 15 December 2025 on the Government’s use of external consultants, 23 January 2026

Parliament page

12 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office relating to the Committee's evidence session on 15 December regarding the Government’s use of external consultants, 05 January 2026

Parliament page