71st Report - Government’s use of external consultants

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 1521 11 March 2026
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 23 items (9 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 21 of 23 classified)
Accepted 15
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 3
Government response
Treasury Minutes: Government response - 71st Report - Government’s use of external consultants
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Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results
5 Recommendation Deferred
The soon to be released strategic workforce plan has the potential to be a welcome...
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
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21 Recommendation Deferred
Written evidence we received highlighted that government has faced long-standing challenges in developing and retaining...
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
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23 Recommendation Deferred
We asked the Cabinet Office when it expects to publish the new strategic workforce plan.
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
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