To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on external consultants in 2022.

For 2021-22, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on page 193 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22, linked here.

Consultancy spend for 2022-23 will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, later this year.

Cabinet Office has a mature assurance framework for Consultancy & Professional Services. A dedicated team exists to assure such spending and make recommendations to officials accordingly for decision. The assurance framework is built on the principles outlined in the Consultancy Playbook and aims to ensure that where such requirements are justified, they deliver value for money for the taxpayer. This use of these consultants is a legitimate part of policymaking that helps to deliver efficient public services to the taxpayer and has been a feature under successive Governments.