By Rob Woodward: As the civil service unions gear up for a nasty conflict with the government over 91,000 jobs being axed the UK Health Security Agency has private consultants representing more than one in 10 of its entire staff being paid between £1,200 and £3,000 per day.

The government, or more accurately the Prime Minister, announced in a TV interview that it was going to axe 91,000 civil service jobs without consulting with anyone in the service. It was news to them and so two civil service unions are gearing up. The PM, backed by Steve Barclay said that these job losses were needed because ultimately the taxpayer was burdened with them. By far, the vast majority of the increase has been caused by Brexit and the need to manage multiple complicated projects.

The government was wasted tens of billions over the Covid-19 pandemic and now it feels it needs to get a grip on the news headlines going against it.

In the meantime, more than one in 10 people working at the UK Health Security Agency, which was formed last year – are management consultants who are earning upwards of £3,000 a day, its chief executive has revealed.

As of 31 January, management consultants made up 13 per cent of UKHSA’s workforce, Chief Exec Dame Jenny Harries said in a letter to the Public Accounts Committee.

Just over half of the workforce – 58 per cent – were civil servants, while the remaining 29 per cent were contingent labour.

The contingent labour segment includes consultants in public health, which Harries described as a “core part of the UKHSA workforce”. Her letter stressed the distinction between management consultants that provide advisory services, and specialists “with either clinical or multi-disciplinary backgrounds in public health”.

UKHSA is paying management consultants between £706 and £3,100 a day – excluding VAT, Harries said. As of November – when the most recent analysis took place – the average day rate was £1,244 excluding VAT. “This reflects an approach focused on minimising the cost of management consultants for those deemed essential to operational delivery,” Harries said.

UKHSA, and one of its predecessor organisations NHS Test and Trace, have been criticised for their reliance on consultancy businesses.

Harries added that UKHSA is carrying out a “rapid review of the functions and shape of the organisation required to deliver [its] future role”, following the February announcement of the government’s “Living with Covid” plan and its Spending Review settlement.

It has since been reported that the UK Health Security Agency plans to cut 40 per cent of its jobs – around 800 full-time equivalent roles – in a move that public-health experts have called “irresponsible”. UKHSA has not confirmed the plans.