Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Provision of Future Civil Service contract awarded to GuideHouse Europe Limited of 2 July 2026, reference CCCC26A06, if she will set out the (a) full terms of reference and project specification for the work and (b) project specifications for the subcontractors of Korn Ferry, Newton Consultting and Eden McCallum; and for what reason this was awarded via a direct purchase rather than following an open competition.

The Future Civil Service Programme has an ambitious agenda to transform the civil service, to build capability, improve talent management and ensure staff have the skills and tools they need to drive government priorities in every postcode of the UK. The Contract was awarded on 2 July 2026 to Guidehouse Europe Limited to support the aims of the Programme.

Responsibility for selecting, deploying, and managing subcontractors rests with the lead supplier, which remains accountable for delivering the contract requirements.

All contracts are awarded in line with relevant guidance. The contract was awarded via a further competition through the Government Commercial Agency’s Commercial Agreement:Management Consultancy Framework 4 (MCF4) RM6309 Lot 2: Strategy & Policy.

The tender participants can be viewed here:

https://www.gca.gov.uk/agreements/RM6309:2/lot-suppliers

The contract is governed by the RM6309 Core Terms of the Commercial Agreement which can be found in the documents section of the commercial agreement page here: https://www.gca.gov.uk/agreements/RM6309