The vast majority of civil servants expect government spending on consultants to keep rising despite Labour’s push to rein in the billions paid to firms such as Accenture, a new survey shows.
Some 96pc of senior Whitehall staff polled by research firm Source said they expect their own government departments to spend more on consultants over the next two years, with just 2pc expecting spending to fall.
It comes despite ministers vowing to rein in spending on outside advice. The Government outlined plans in November to save £1.2bn by 2026 by slashing spending on consultants. Changes include introducing new rules requiring ministerial sign-off for any contracts worth over £600,000, or that last for more than nine months.
More than 88pc of civil servants who make decisions on consulting contracts said they had received specific instructions to cut spending, including by negotiating cheaper contracts, Source found.
However, mandarins claim they do not have the skills to complete their work alone, leaving them with little choice but to rely on outside help.
More than a fifth of civil servants polled said they lacked specific expertise needed and another 16pc claimed their departments were short-staffed. That is despite significant growth in the public sector in recent years.
Public sector workers blamed capacity constraints inside the civil service for the expected rise in spending, with 30pc saying their departments lacked sufficient resources to get work done.
A quarter of civil servants said ministers were more likely to listen to advice from consultants than their own internal staffers, the survey showed, suggesting a lack of trust in Whitehall’s expertise was fuelling a reliance on the private sector.
Fiona Czerniawska, the chief executive of Source, said: “We’ve seen successive governments over the years seek to cut back spending on consultants. But if a government minister wants to get something done and doesn’t have the people, they’ll use outside contractors to do that.”
The Government has £5bn worth of contracts with management consultancies, according to Tussell, a research firm.
HM Revenues and Customs is the most reliant on consultants, spending £1bn with them. The Cabinet Office and the Home Office both have active contracts worth nearly £500m each.
Accenture is the largest provider of consulting service to the Government, holding contracts worth £1.4bn, followed by “big four” accountant Deloitte, which has active agreements worth another £1bn.
KPMG, PA Consulting, McKinsey, EY and PwC all have contracts with the Government worth hundreds of millions each, Tussell’s data show.
