£690M SPENT ON CONSULTANTS BY GOVERNMENT IS A GRAVY-TRAIN FOR ACCOUNTANTS AND BANKERS WHO 'ADVISE' GOVERNMENT ON EFFICIENCY WHILE TAKING HUGE FEES FOR THE PRIVILEGE SAYS GMB

GMB sees no reason why any public service worker should suffer while these fat cats are raking it in at the taxpayers expense

£690.6m was spent on consultants by Government Ministries and 320 non departmental government bodies in the year to 31st March 2010 a new analysis by GMB of data released by the Cabinet Office shows. More than 2,487 consultants were employed but the precise number is not available as when a body employs less than 5 consultants the figure is not made available.

A separate pdf at the foot of the release sets out the spending for each of the 320 non departmental government bodies where applicable. Here are some examples. Remploy employed 17 consultants at a total cost of £4million – which is an average of £235,000 per consultant. The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority employed 14 consultants at a cost of £9 million – which is an average of £642,000. The Skills Funding Agency, sponsored by BIS, employed 13 at a cost of £2million – an average of £154,000. The Export Credits Guarantee Department employed 10 at a cost of £1 million. Office of Government Commerce, sponsored by H M Treasury, employed 15 consultants at a cost of £6 million – an average of £400,000 per consultant.

See the link below for further info and to the table that shows the numbers employed and the costs set out by sponsoring ministries and parent bodies:

http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/latest_news/690m_spent_on_consultants.asp...