Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in (a) 2020, (b) 2019 and (c) 2018.

Between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020 Cabinet Office spent £5.016 million on external recruitment services (consultancy). Included within this total figure is expenditure totalling £3.082 million, attributed to the Government Recruitment Service (GRS) for external recruitment services (consultancy) which was incurred by the Cabinet Office and recharged to other Government Departments.

The breakdown per calendar year is as follows.

1. In the 2020 calendar year, Cabinet Office spent £2.507 million on recruitment services (consultancy), of which £2.036 million was attributed to GRS and recharged to other Government Departments.

2. In the 2019 calendar year, Cabinet Office spent £1.556 million on recruitment services (consultancy), of which £1.042 million was attributed to GRS and recharged to other Government Departments.

3. In the 2018 calendar year, Cabinet Office spent £0.953 million on recruitment services (consultancy), of which £0.004 million was attributed to GRS and recharged to other Government Departments.