Responding to the use of consultants included in the Conservative and Labour Manifestos, Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), said:
“We stand ready to serve the next government in power and recognise the financial constraints any new administration will face. As MCA members we work in partnership to support government’s ambitions to improve public sector productivity and innovation, enabling them to do more with less, using specialist expertise and world class capabilities. We are proud to deliver outstanding public sector projects and to transfer skills and capabilities to the civil service leaving them better equipped to respond to future challenges.
“The next government will face a complex series of challenges on an unprecedented scale and we believe it will continue to need the very best of private sector expertise to deliver better frontline services for tax payers. Due to headcount constraints government often lacks capacity or specialist knowledge to deliver projects and as an industry we have stood up resources, as part of the national effort, to improve cyber security, to drive the transition to net zero, and to put in place the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) Scheme for all energy customers, particularly supporting vulnerable low income groups. It is unrealistic to expect government to employ a vast pool of private sector experts and resources and far more cost efficient to use them for short term projects helping improve the efficiency and delivery of critical national services.
“If we are to improve productivity and growth in the future it will be vital to harness all the very best of skills from the private and public sector to help improve innovation, efficiency and digital transformation.
“The UK consulting sector is a great British success story – a thriving force in the economy, driving growth and jobs and recognised across the world as a global centre of excellence – and the next government should promote our sector at home and abroad.”
MCA COMMENT ON THE USE OF CONSULTANTS IN THE CONSERVATIVE AND LABOUR MANIFESTOS
