The government’s ‘war room’ has ramped up its spending on private consultancy giants as time ticks down to Brexit .

The Cabinet Office spent £4.2m of taxpayer cash in December, £5.9m in November and £4.4m in October with eight of the biggest firms including Bain, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte.

The total over three months, £14.6m, was almost as much as the £15.4m the Cabinet Office spent in the previous nine months put together.

The anti-Brexit People’s Vote campaign, which compiled the figures, said they show consultants are benefiting while austerity robs councils of cash.

Labour MP Alison McGovern said: "Public services are being are being starved thanks to years of austerity.

"But for a few big consultancy businesses, things appear to have never looked better.

"It is scandalous that vast amounts of our money are going into the pockets of consultants while our hospitals struggle and our schools fall back on raffles and tombolas to raise the money they need to buy books.

"Brexit is in a mess with 50 days to go. It is increasingly clear that the only way forward is a People’s Vote and letting the public decide if they want to press ahead with leaving the EU."

People’s Vote compiled the figures from public data on all spending over £25,000 by the Cabinet Office, which co-ordinates work between government departments.

Campaigners looked at spending on eight major firms – Bain & Co, Ernst & Young, McKinsey, PA Consulting, PWC, Boston, KPMG and Deloitte.

They found that throughout last year, Cabinet Office spending on the eight firms did not exceed £2.5million in any month until October.

But the spending then racked up in the final three months of the year.

Ernst & Young benefited the most in 2018, with £8m of Cabinet Office spending recorded with the firm, followed by PWC on £5.5m and Boston on £4m.

People’s Vote also looked at spending on the eight firms that was only classified as ‘EU Exit’ – and the result were even more dramatic.

There was no "EU Exit" spending on the eight firms at all between January and June, apart from £29,000 in May.

But it then rose to £310,000 in August, £1.7m in September, £3m in October, £4.6m in November and £2.6m in December.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "It is standard for Government departments to draw on the advice of external specialists.

"We are preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit from the European Union, and are equipping ourselves with the right people and skills to make this happen."

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