Consultancy spend trebles at DCSF
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has been criticised for trebling its spending on consultants to more than 61m over two years.
Figures obtained by shadow children's secretary Michael Gove revealed the DCSF's predecessor, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), spent £21.5m on consultants in 2005/6.
But this more than doubled to £45.1m the next year and by 2007/8, when the department changed to the DCSF, the figure had risen to £61.4m.
While the DCSF has nearly 2,000 fewer civil servants than its predecessor the DfES, it no longer has responsibility for universities.
Among those to raise concerns is the Public and Commercial Services Union, which wants to see the department's use of consultants reined in with savings diverted to frontline children's services.
A spokesman said: "The government believes outside contractors can somehow provide something its own staff cannot. In reality they often just double up on work that employed civil servants are doing."
Barry Sheerman, chair of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, said: "I don't think that using consultants per se is wrong. The question here is how are they being used. That is a question that we on the committee will want answers to. There are some very good consultants out there who provide invaluable support."
The DCSF was unable to comment as CYPNow went to press.
