Govt Waste: £2.8 Billion in British Taxpayer Cash Splashed out on ‘Management Consultants’

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Labour Party campaigners on Whitehall during a stunt in which
Rob Pinney/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The British government has been accused of squandering hard-earned money from the public by splashing out £2.8 billion on management consultants last year, alone.

While the government in Westminster demanded that Britons suffer under the largest tax burden since World War II — to pay down the massive debt accrued during the government-imposed lockdowns — billions in taxpayer cash was being handed out to private consultants to advise the government on a range of issues, including the illegal boat migrant crisis in the English Channel.

Quadrupling the amount spent on consultants from just six years ago, 2022 saw consultants rake in a staggering £2.8 billion in contracts from the government, The Times reported. The London-based broadsheet revealed that six companies were each given at least £100 million in government deals, while the firm Deloitte led the pack receiving approximately £278 million.

Among the contracts dolled out to Deloitte included a £3.9 million deal to “support for the delivery of small boat arrivals” believed to be tied to the Home Office’s so far failed attempts to decrease the number of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel.  A further £1.8 million was spent on Ernst & Young (EY) to help manage sending migrants to hotels throughout the country while their asylum claims were processed. 

The largest spending from a governmental department on consultants was the Ministry of Defence, which is said to have handed out £363 million in contracts, including a £31 million deal with Microsoft, a £20 million deal with Newton Europe to improve “army efficiency”, and a ten-year ten-year £215 million deal with formerly government-owned defence contractor Qinetiq to consult on the construction of next-generation submarines.

According to the paper, the dramatic surge in government consultancy contracts has come as a result of restrictions, which previously required such deals to receive central authorisation at £20,000 and later £600,000, being dropped by the Cabinet Office. The Times went on to report that the government’s own in-house consultancy unit to reduce reliance on outside firms was also eliminated.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said that the government is still “committed to reducing consultancy spend”, adding: “As has been the case under successive governments, there are circumstances when drawing on expertise from the private sector can help support the delivery of effective and efficient public services. Consultants are used only when external expertise is essential and departments must meet strict criteria in order to use them.”

However, the revelations have drawn backlash in light of the ongoing cost of living crisis and the decades-high tax burden that the public continues to suffer under.

“At the height of a cost of living crisis, ministers are wasting billions hiring consultants to tell them how to do their jobs. Instead of investing in the skills, talent and value for money of the civil service, the government has become hooked on expensive private consultants,” Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said.

In addition to the exorbitant consultancy contracts handed out by the state, the Conservative government has also been accused of wasting taxpayer money on woke endeavours, such as on forwarding the message of ‘diversity, inclusion, and equity’.

For example, the UK’s socialised healthcare system, the National Health Service (NHS), currently employs at least 812 “diversity officers” for  £40.7 million per year  — or roughly the amount of money needed to hire 1,200 new nurses. Meanwhile, police forces throughout the country have also spent at least £10.2 million on diversity officers, as well as an additional £3.6 million on so-called“equality training programmes”.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.