Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions ministerial authorisation has been granted for expenditure which exceeded his Department's internal efficiency control thresholds for (a) advertising, marketing and communications, (b) consultancy and (c) external recruitment; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) value of any such agreed expenditure has been in the last 12 months.

The Department for Education has its own internal efficiency controls thresholds and complies with the Cabinet Office controls.

1. Advertising, Marketing and Communications expenditure above the Departmental threshold of £100,000 is submitted to Efficiency and Reform Group at Cabinet Office for final clearance.

2. Consultancy expenditure above £20,000 (and is a new contract expected to exceed 9 months, an existing contract to be extended beyond 9 months or is expenditure for procurement related consultancy) is submitted to Cabinet Office for final clearance.

3. Cabinet Office is not directly involved in recruitment approvals.

The approved expenditure requests which have exceeded Departmental thresholds are published on a quarterly basis on the Department's website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/approved-exemptions-to-the-efficiency-controls