Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 128 of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC 745, what the reasons are for the increace in consultancy costs compared to the previous financial year.

Auditors’ and educational consultancy remunerations have increased in 2013-14 to reflect the increasing number of academies consolidated into the Department for Education’s accounts. In 2013-14, 2,585 Academy Trusts were consolidated into the Department’s accounts (2012-13: 2,108 Academy Trusts).

Audit fees are costs incurred by Academy Trusts in fulfilling their statutory duty of ensuring that their financial statements are audited whilst non-audit fees may include fees for preparing statutory accounts and management accounts, internal audit and systems check and payroll preparation.