Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Contracts

(asked on 16th June 2025) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.59 of HM Treasury's document entitled Spending Review 2025: departmental efficiency delivery plans, published on 11 June 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of insourcing services on levels of efficiency in her Department.


Answered by
Alex Norris Portrait
Alex Norris
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This question was answered on 24th June 2025

The department is committed to improving efficiency by reducing reliance on external suppliers and consultants, having already achieved a 50% reduction in consultancy use since 2023/24. Consultants are only engaged for time-limited, specific needs where internal expertise is not available, ensuring that costs remain tightly controlled. As part of our ongoing invest-to-save initiative, we are actively replacing contractors and professional services with permanent civil servants. This approach has already delivered substantial savings and is expected to generate further annual efficiencies. By building in-house capability, the department is not only reducing costs but also enhancing the skills and sustainability of the civil service workforce, which in turn supports more effective and efficient delivery of our objectives.

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