To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies spent on consultancy services in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to date.

Since 2009-10, the Departmental Group, as defined at the end of the 2013-14 financial year, has spent 25% less on consultancy services, equating to a £194 million reduction in costs.

Total Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPB) spend on consultancy services in the year 2013-14 is shown in the table below. Data for 2014-15 will not be available until the accounts are published after the financial year end.

Consultancy services are defined as “The provision to management of objective advice and assistance relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation in pursuit of its purposes and objectives. Such assistance will be provided outside the ‘business as usual’ (BAU) environment when in-house skills are not available and will be of no essential consequence and time-limited. Services may include the identification of options with recommendations and/or assistance with (but not delivery of) the implementation of solutions.”

The figures provided are disclosed as expenditure on “consultancy services” in the administration and programme costs notes in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.

NHS administration spending is down from 4.27% in 2010 to 2.77% currently. This has resulted in £5 billion of efficiency savings, which is now being put into frontline patient care.