Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on consultancies by (a) HM Courts & Tribunals Service and (b) his Department in each month of 2019.

Please find below the total spend on consultancy for HMCTS and for MoJ in total for the period January 19 to November 19. Please note the spend is taken from our spend analysis tool and is an accurate figure of what has been invoiced and paid during the period. Invoice and payment data for December 19 is not yet available.

Consultants are engaged to deliver short-term on projects where specialist skills required are not available within the organisation. By making use of consultants, the department can save on salary, national insurance and pension costs associated with permanently employing individuals whose skills may not be needed after a set period