Government spending on professional services surged nearly £600mn in the last financial year, raising concerns that it is reclassifying its consultancy bill rather than delivering promised cuts. Spending on consultants fell £129mn in the financial year ending March 2025, while spending in the broader category of professional services rose £581mn the same year, according to Cabinet Office figures. The Labour government repeatedly pledged to halve consultancy spending by 2025-26, which rose to record levels due to the administrative burden of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. However, advisory firms including Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG, which do a wide variety of non-consultancy work, can continue to be paid for work classified as professional services without adding to the consultancy bill.
"It is fudging," said Andrew Sturdy, a professor of management and organisation at the University of Bristol Business School.
[This is] evidence that departments are reclassifying what might otherwise have been consultancy spend into professional services.",
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing