Over £130 million has been spent on communications consultancies since January, Labour has today reported. 23 different communications consultancies have been used by the UK Government since the year began.
As questions swirl around the Government’s decision to spend £670,000 on PR consultants for one official, the analysis reveals the amount of taxpayer money being spent on agencies – including many with established links to senior Tories.
The amount doesn’t include existing spend on special advisors and civil servants working on communications and press.
A majority of this spend is also with a single agency, Manning Gottleib OMD, paid £113,290,408.50 in 2020 alone, as part of a four-year media buying deal with the UK Government for £600 million.
The figures also show how spend peaked at £36 million in July, with close to £35 million spent in September.
The Government’s spend on outsourced consultancies during Covid-19 has come under question, after it was revealed that some consultants were being paid up to £7,000 a day.
With huge amounts put into these contracts and Government giving little information on what was delivered, Labour is demanding more transparency on taxpayer value for money on this spend.
When asked during Prime Questions about the £670K spent on PR consultants, Boris Johnson swept the question aside, saying the money was “to fight the anti-vaxxers” & encourage people to have the vaccine
Sir Keir Starmer then asked about a £150m contract with Iandle Capital to deliver face masks, and asks how many usable face masks were provided to frontline workers.
Johnson replied that “we are in the middle of a global pandemic in which the Government has procured and delivered 32 billion items of PPE”.
He added that has been the private sector that makes PPE and testing equipment, and “no matter how much the party opposite may hate them” provides scientific breakthroughs such as the vaccine.
