Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on external management consultants in the financial years (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021; and on which ten projects or work areas her Department spent the most on support from those consultants in each of those financial years.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes details about headcount and payroll costs for permanent staff and contractors on GOV.UK on a monthly basis. You can find the information you seek at DWP workforce management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The DWP consultancy spend for the financial years 2019 through to 2021 is shown below.

2018/19 £4,446,169

2019/20 £4,570,665

2020/21 £1,284,861

2021/21 £1,041,058

Information on the projects or work areas DWP spent the most on support from those consultants in each of the financial years is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.