Commenting on the publication of a report by the Wales Audit Office into the procurement and management of consultancy services, Paul Davies AM, Shadow Minister for Finance, said:

"It is right that public bodies should be able to outsource certain operations to make the best use of available expertise to help improve the delivery of services.

"However, unless there are robust measures in place to manage expenditure on consultancy services, costs can easily spiral and public bodies risk ending up writing blank cheques.