subject: Consultants In Whitehall Cost 2bn Per Annum [print this page] In newly released figures, 2bn per year appears to be the amount taxpayers are paying for contractors and consultants in Whitehall.
The figures released from the largest survey of it's kind to be conducted show 20,000 temporary workers employed in government departments and quango's whilst there are 640,000 permanent staff.
100,000 is the average cost per annum for a consultant which is three times what the average permanent civil servant is shown to cost.
The data was compiled by The Cabinet Office to research their use of freelancers and consultants in government departments. It is thought that they will use the information to reduce the number of temporary staff they currently employ.
Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister said "It's important the Government gets this kind of management information so that it can really get a grip on numbers."
"Today's figures may be a bit rough and ready, but we have to start gathering this kind of information straight away so that we know what the total workforce of government really is. Until now we've only had an incomplete picture of the true numbers of people working for us. But as we continue to push forward with our efficiency agenda, we need to ensure managers have this kind of basic management information.
"Even though today's numbers may not be perfect, it's important to put what we do know into the public domain straight away as we have promised to be more transparent about what is really going on in government."
There are 320 public sector bodies surveyed; the bodies include the 91,000 employees at Jobcentre Plus right through to the Teachers TV Board of Governors and their 5 staff.
The figures collated in March 2010 show 1,193 temporary workers employed in the Ministry of Defence which has the largest percentage of temps. These temporary workers include consultants, contractors, agency staff and interim managers.
1,000 temps are shown to be working in the Department of Health and the Environment Agency.
Other interesting data included the 265m spent on non payroll staff at The Department of Health 2009-2010, 244m spent by The Home Office and 146m by the Ministry of Defence.
For 2009-2010, 19,967 temporary workers cost 2.003bn showing an average cost of 100,315 per temp, whereas an average salary of 31,971 was produced for permanent staff.
On completion of the survey The Cabinet Office has stated that it is "incomplete", that indeed figures could change and that reports were produced by the departments themselves and not the independent Office for National Statistics.
