The Ministry of Justice has defended its outlay on consultants after spending more than ?43m on external experts since May 2010.

A written question in the House of Commons discovered that net spend since the coalition government took power was an average of ?2.28m a month. The figure comes at a time with the department is required to slash its budget by ?2bn and is cutting ?350m a year from legal aid funding.

But the MoJ insists it is following the lead of central government in reducing consultancy costs.

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