71st Report - Government’s use of external consultants

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 1521 11 March 2026
Report Status Response overdue
Conclusions & Recommendations 23 items (4 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 5 of 23 classified)
Accepted 3
Acknowledged 1
Deferred 1
Clear

Recommendations

3 results
2 Accepted
The Cabinet Office is unable to deliver on its strategic objective to reduce consultancy spend...
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
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3 Accepted
The Cabinet Office is unable to demonstrate that the target to halve consultancy spend is...
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office is unable to demonstrate that the target to halve consultancy spend is an effective way to reduce spending on external providers. The Chancellor announced her intention to stop all non- essential spending on consultancy immediately and halve … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Cabinet Office has commissioned departments on their spending on professional services published for 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 and will provide collated data to the Committee by July 2026.
HM Treasury
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4 Accepted
The Cabinet Office has not provided departments with up-to-date guidance on how to procure, learn...
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office has not provided departments with up-to-date guidance on how to procure, learn from and manage consultancy. The Government Commercial Function (GCF) is responsible for the Consultancy Playbook, as well as the related Sourcing Playbook. The Consultancy Playbook … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Cabinet Office will publish the updated Consultancy Playbook by July 2026, and it will incorporate updated guidance about the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
HM Treasury
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