In the run-up to the election campaign, the Liberal Democrats revealed that the government paid 12 consultancies fees totalling £1.7bn during the past six years, reported PublicTechnology.net.
Big Four consultancies PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte led the earnings league table and along Accecture (an offshoot of Arthur Andersen) earned £1.4bn between them, according to a series of parliamentary answers assembled by the Liberal Democrats.
Consultancy fees for 2009-10 ran at more than £178m, so it will come as little surprise that all the main political parties – including the incumbent Labour government – have vowed to reduce central government’s dependence on consultancy as part of election cost-cutting efficiency measures.
The Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health were the two biggest spenders, with combined expenditures exceeding £1bn since 2004.
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