Adam Shaw's Radio 4 series on the influence of management consultancy came this week to the increasingly intimate relationship between government and the big consultancy firms. In "Affairs of State", (BBC Sounds relay here), he attempts to gauge the effect that the latter have on politicians and the civil service. Contributors spoke of consultants "hollowing out" or "infantilising" the civil service. If the tone seems broadly critical, it is because none of the firms cited in the broadcast provided people to defend their position.
It is most likely that, taking the long view, it has cost more to employ consultancies than it would have done to recruit and retain a skilled civil service. However, they have the great advantage to politicians ever fearful of headlines in the Daily Express and the Daily Mail of keeping the civil service head-count down. Even less forgivable is commissioning a consultancy project in order to push an unpalatable political decision over the horizon, as Welsh Labour did in 2013-16 . Millions were wasted on that and on a public inquiry which recommended a decision in favour of a Newport by-pass which was not taken.
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