Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consultants his Department has hired in each year since 2016; and what the cost has been to the public purse.

The Department does not hold information on the number of consultants hired in any one year as this work is often commissioned as part of an outcome-based contract to ensure value for money.

As set out in the Department’s published Annual Report and Accounts, the amount spent on consultants by Core Defra each year since 2016 is:

2016-17 - £2,792,000

2017-18 - £11,422,000

The increase reflects the need to ensure the Department draws on the best advice possible as we prepare to leave the EU.