The UK government has paid almost 1.5 million pounds ($1.9 million) in a single month to US consulting firms for advice regarding the country's upcoming exit from the European Union, The Times newspaper reported on Monday citing the UK Cabinet Office's official data
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2018) The UK government has paid almost 1.5 million Pounds ($1.9 million) in a single month to US consulting firms for advice regarding the country's upcoming exit from the European Union, The Times newspaper reported on Monday citing the UK Cabinet Office's official data.
According to the official data, the UK government paid almost $2 million in September to such US consulting firms as The Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Ernst & Young and Deloitte. Another 226,000 pounds were paid to UK PA Consulting Group.
The news outlet reported that while the Cabinet Office had not specified with which projects the consultancy companies were charged, and refused to reveal how much the contracts were worth in total, the firms' work might have been related to contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit outcome.
"The contracts cover skills that are needed on EU exit preparation and implementation to allow the widest scope for departments to secure the capability they need, including commercial, operational, programme and project management," the Cabinet Office said, as quoted by the outlet.
The office also noted that the government paid more than $2 million for the work that was being done over a longer period of time than just one month, the outlet added.
In August, the UK government hired Deliotte for $3.3 million to train the staff of the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) to tackle unfair trade practices that may occur after the country exits the European Union.
According to the BuzzFeed News portal, UK taxpayers could end up spending around 40 million pounds ($51 million) on external consultancy services related to Brexit.
