'Consultant money well spent' - DoT

The DoT spent œ50,000 on a consultant which saved œ80 million in claims on a road contract, according to a report produced last week.

Although the DoT refuses to say what project was affected, it uses the example to show that its œ53 million bill in 1992/3 for outside consultants was money well spent.

The DoT - which invests œ3 billion a year on the roads programme and a further œ2 billion on railway infrastructure - says that the œ80 million saving covers the cost of all its consultancy work.

The report, The Government's Use of External Consultants, published last week by the Cabinet Office, is critical of much of the Government's spending on consultants. But the DoT emerges relatively unscathed.

A DoT spokesman said: 'External consultants contribute to the objective of building roads most economically. In the report the DoT gets neither praise or criticism.'

PA Consulting Group - currently employed by the BEC and FCEC - earned œ19.8 million from the Government for its management and technical consultancy according to the report.

Senior partner Jeremy Stanyard said: 'We were called in to offer an evaluation of the roads programme using proper project management through the whole life of the project. We were of immense value. In terms of value for money, we give five to tenfold return.'

PA Consulting Group also reviewed the British Library.