MOD spends £500m on "advisers"

The Ministry of Defence has spent more than £500 million on lawyers and consultants while cutting thousands of troops and civil servants.

The amount spent by the MOD on 'External Assistance' - management consultants, lawyers and Information Technology experts - has doubled over the past two years from £19 million to £44.6 million.

We understand that some consultants are being paid as much as £4,000 a day to do work that was previously undertaken by civil servants.

As much as £455 million has been spent on Framework Agreements for Technical Supports (FATS) since 2011 which must please the 331 approved firms providing services to the department.

We believe that successive defence reviews have been based on cutting the defence budget instead of the demands of the UK's foreign policy and defence need. We also believe that the continuing attacks on civil servants and public services are politically driven by the ConDem government.

Cuts that have no strategy other than to remove jobs and capability is leaving the MOD with shortages in manpower, technical skills, capability and flexibility.

It is unsurprising that a recent Freedom of Information request has revealed these figures. What is surprising is that taxpayers money is being wasted by politicians with little vision who, after being told again and again that civil servants are one of the most cost effective ways of supporting defence capability, continue to ignore it because of political dogma.

The MOD remains the loser as defence cuts cost capability. The winners, consultants and contractors who's extortionate costs are being funded by the taxpayer.