Exclusive: Labour calls cancelling of financial restrictions ‘indefensible’ in cost of living crisis
Ministers have quietly dropped restrictions on spending controls, allowing Whitehall departments to spend millions more on external consultants.
The limits were introduced under David Cameron in 2011, requiring central authorisation if contracts with firms such as Deloitte or KPMG lasted more than nine months or exceeded £20,000. The value of the contracts has been rising – with the limit earlier this year set at £600,000.
