As reported in The Times today, Peter Neyroud, chief executive of the NPIA, has been speaking out against excessive use of consultants in the Home Office. In the two years that the NPIA has been operating, Neyroud has reduced expenditure on consultancy from £71million in the first year to £19m. This is clearly a successful saving but the positive role of consultants should not be completely disregarded.

When used in a rational manner with clearly defined scope and project management, the role of consultants in delivering substantial time and cost savings is significant. Why invest valuable time and money is recruiting, training and managing internal personnel when the expertise already exists in the form of consultants? Whilst their use needs to be carefully justified and controlled from a business perspective, consultancy has the potential to offer flexibility and affordable changes in these cash and resource-strapped times.