Defra consultancy bill outrageous - Huhne

4.34.51pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 17th Nov 2006

The Liberal Democrats have revealed new figures showing that Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has spent over ?170m on management consultants since 2002-3.

The figures have emerged at the same time as Defra is cutting a similar amount (?200 million) from its budget for this year.

Chris Huhne MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary said "This is an astonishing amount of money to spend on management consultancy. Judging by the comprehensive management failures of the department, it is also money that has been shockingly badly spent.

"The Government seems to be addicted to management consultants but is completely unable to secure value-for-money from them.

"This sum of money is almost as large as the cuts that Defra is currently making in key services like flood defences, waterways and veterinary inspection to prevent threats to public safety.

"David Miliband must now get a grip on his department's budget."