Brexit consultancy spending costs the UK £97m

Consultancy fees to prepare for Brexit has cost the country a reported £97m according to the National Audit Office.

The money is said to have been spent on hiring external experts due to lack of staff and skills in government departments.

According to the Cabinet Office, around £65m was kept, between April 2018 and April 2019, for consultancy services.

However, another £32m worth of spending was revealed in that same time. But a government spokesman has defended the spending.

They said it was “often more cost-efficient to draw upon the advice of external specialists for short-term projects requiring specialist skills.

“These include EU exit priorities such as ensuring the uninterrupted supply of medical products and food to the UK.”

Under government guidelines, departments have to publish these sorts of contracts within 90 days. However, it was revealed that it took an average of 119 days when it came to Brexit consultancies.