29 October 2004
The First Division Association has warned the government that it must be able to justify the increased use of private consultants, after figures revealed spending of £1.75bn a year.
The FDA, which represents senior civil servants, said it was incumbent on government departments to ensure there was no waste of money.
The union was responding to a survey by the Conservative Party's research department that found widespread use of consultants across all government departments, some earning up to £2,000 a day. It found that the Department for International Development spent £697.5m on consultants, including research, in 2003/04. At the transport department, the figure was £293.6m, while the Ministry of Defence paid external advisers £262.8m.
The figures also highlighted spending at the Department of Health of £10m; £15.2m at the Cabinet Office; and £52.3m at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. External advice cost the Department for Work and Pensions £291.5m in 2002/03, the latest year for which figures are available.
But the FDA believes that the high cost of advisers reveals a more worrying problem. A spokeswoman said: 'This is an awful lot of money for the government to be spending on advice, particularly when it has recently announced plans to cut back large numbers of staff'.
Revealed after Chancellor Gordon Brown pledged to axe 84,150 jobs in Whitehall and a further 20,000 around the country to prove his commitment to efficiency in the public sector, the figures suggest the government cannot deliver services without large numbers of outside consultants.
According to the FDA, the current situation is open to 'mismanagement'.
The FDA spokeswoman said: 'Departments have to get the work done, and with fewer people to do it, it's inevitable that problems arise. We are incredibly concerned that cuts are being made, when there are clearly not enough people to do the job.'
A Cabinet Office source told Public Finance: 'There have been some comments about the pay rates of some of these advisers, mainly because they are often former civil servants who have become consultants and are now being paid three times more by the government to do essentially the same job.
'That issue raises even more questions about the logic for the latest proposed cuts.'
MPs furious as MoD chief ducks responsibility for blunders
The Ministry of Defence's chief mandarin, Sir Kevin Tebbit, has refused to take responsibility for a series of procurement errors that has left the department more than £250m out of pocket.
In a heated confrontation with members of the Public Accounts Committee, Tebbit said he was 'sorry' for the errors, but added: 'There is nothing I can do to put it right overnight.'
Appearing before the committee on October 25, Tebbit faced a mauling from MPs furious about the £259m purchase of eight Chinook helicopters that are not permitted to fly because they do not meet UK safety standards.
Tebbit was also grilled about the lack of trained pilots, which had grounded Apache helicopters, and a shortage of equipment, which meant just 24 Lynx helicopters were sent to Iraq rather than the 33 required.
Labour backbencher Alan Williams asked the MoD permanent secretary: 'Don't you think you should consider your position?'
The whole thing was a 'fiasco' and the product of 'downright absolute incompetence', he added.
Tebbit infuriated the committee by saying that no one had been sacked or disciplined for the errors.
But Durham MP Gerry Steinberg said: 'Every time you come to us you tell us it will not happen again but it does happen again.'
An MoD source said the Chinooks were written off for spare parts in the department's accounts.
He added: 'It was a tough inquisition because the MPs were furious and determined to find the flaws. There is an investigation ongoing as to why the Chinooks were unsuitable and what can be done to reverse the issue.'
The MoD has come under repeated fire from the National Audit Office and the PAC over mishaps and losses over its procurement deals for military equipment.
DTI withdraws mistake-laden job law guide
The Department of Trade and Industry has had to reissue a guide to new employment law after officials and employers pointed out significant errors.
More than a million of the leaflets, which describe the 13-stage process employers must follow to avoid unfair dismissal claims, were sent out. Having the leaflet reprinted has cost the DTI £203,000.
The guide told employers that workers had the right to be accompanied by a union official or other representative only in an appeals procedure, whereas that right is available at any disciplinary stage.
A DTI spokeswoman said: 'The guidance was meant to be read in conjunction with information on our website but we realised that if it was read on its own it could be misleading and we issued new guidance as soon as possible.'
The Federation of Small Businesses has condemned the procedures as 'a potential minefield for small firms'.
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