§ John McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many(a) consultants and (b) advisers his Department employs; and what the annual cost is of their employment; [184739]
- (2) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers his Department has employed for more than six months in the last year; and what projects they were assigned to; [184741]
- (3) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers are currently paid from departmental programme budgets; and what the total associated costs are; [184742]
- (4) how many (a) consultants and (b) advisers have been taken out of schools to work on his Department's projects. [184743]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeWorking in partnership and involving front line practitioners in policy thinking and system change is fundamental to our vision for managing the transformation of the education system. We consult regularly with schools and take advice from headteachers and teachers to support the development of our policies.
Authority to use consultants and advisers is delegated to Directorates and data on numbers is not recorded centrally. The cost of consultants charged to administration budgets in 2003–04 was £4.7 million. The cost charged to programmes is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.