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Revealed: 'Sloppy' Whitehall departments spent £56m on COVID-19 consultants

British government departments have spent over £56m on consultancy firms during the pandemic, with most contracts awarded without any competition.

By Peter Geoghegan, Jenna Corderoy, Rob Evans, Russell Scott and David Pegg
Revealed: 'Sloppy' Whitehall departments spent £56m on COVID-19 consultants
Management consultants doing well.... | https://www.flickr.com/photos/opengridscheduler/16480362717
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Whitehall departments have spent over £56m on consultancy firms to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic, mostly without giving other companies the chance to compete for the work, openDemocracy and the Guardian can reveal.

Sixteen private consultancy firms, including major companies like Deloitte, PWC, Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey have been working at the heart of the government’s response to the virus.

They have been rapidly hired to work on the track and trace system, the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the search to produce working ventilators.

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