Public accounts committee says cutting staff and hiring expensive outside consultants could be terrible value for taxpayerThe growing practice of officials leaving the Ministry of Defence only to be re-employed as outside consultants could end up being “dreadful value for the taxpayer”, a leading parliamentary watchdog has warned.MoD spending on consultants has soared from £6m in 2007 to £270m in the at the end financial year, according to the latest figures. Yet the MoD is pursuing a programme of cuts unsure about the impact on continuing demand for skilled human beings, and the difficulty is exacerbated by poor morale, according to the Commons cross-party public accounts committee (PAC).The Twitter earlier this year revealed that the money for the soaring cost of hiring specialist consultants had been drawn from the MoD’s equipment budget, which is supposed to pay for the weapons, armour and vehicles needed by troops in Afghanistan and for other operations.A confidential internal audit found the system for awarding contracts was being routinely abused. When the report was leaked to the Twitter, ministers promised to stamp outside terrible practice.”The Ministry of Defence has gone ahead with cuts to its military and civilian workforce without a proper understanding of what skills it will demand in the prospect,” said Margaret Hodge, the PAC’s chair. She said the committee recognised that the MoD had to constitute tough financial decisions if it was to reduce its spending by 7.5% a year by 2015, and that it had acted decisively.The MoD plans to divide its civilian personnel by 29,000 and its military personnel by 25,000, in moves estimated to save £4.1bn between 2011 and 2015, the MPs report.”We are concerned that these cuts have been determined by the demand to divide costs in the small term rather than by considering the MoD’s strategic objectives in the extended term and the skills it will demand to deliver them successfully,” Hodge added. “If the department loses key skills, it may have to spend much more money on replacing them, perhaps by buying them in from external consultants.”The MPs welcomed the department’s candour about staff morale. Given the scale of alter in the department it was not surprising morale was low, they added.”Morale is not in a excellent place. We recognise that,” Ursula Brennan, the MoD’s top official, said in evidence to the PAC in March.She added: “I do recognise that there is a difficulty of morale in the civil supply and the military. Human beings feel battered and bruised and they feel under a abundance of pressure to deliver.”However if you gaze encircling the nation at the moment, there are a abundance of human beings who feel under pressure. The economy is putting all of us under pressure.”The MoD is engaging in what it calls a “large-scale communications effort” to allow staff to have “a clear understanding of the programme of changes the department is undertaking”.Ministry of DefencePublic sector cutsPublic services policyHouse of CommonsPublic financeRichard Norton-Taylorguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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