Union slams government's 'consultant army'

The government is spending too much on an army of consultants when the money should be spent on front-line services instead, says one union.

In the 2003 to 2004 financial year, the government spent at least £1.4bn on consultants to advise on a variety of projects - up from £986m in the previous year, according to research from the GMB union.

The GMB said that at the average rates of pay for consultants this means the government is employing an army of 27,093 private consultants per year.

The biggest spenders included the Department of Work and Pensions which spent £307m, the Highways Agency in the Department of Transport which spent £277m and the Ministry of Defence which paid out £251m.

Other big spenders included The Department for International Development (£213m), the Home Office (£74m) and the Learning and Skills Council (£70m).

GMB acting general secretary Paul Kenny said: "These figures show that the tax payer is paying far too much for management and consultancy advice. There is scope to save money on these consultants and to spend the money instead on the front-line public services. The culture of continual reorganisation in the public sector is creating a field day for consultants."

Last week the government reopened the bidding on framework contracts for IT consulting companies looking to give advice on big technology projects.