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The Ministry of Defence鈥檚 estate arm has admitted that it does not have enough staff or skills to deliver its operations and, despite a cross-Whitehall crackdown, has been forced to bring in a raft of consultants to help directly with the 拢400m procurement of its private sector partner.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) said this week that it had tendered for a raft of consultants to provide 鈥渋mplementation support鈥� for 鈥渢he ongoing DIO transformation programme鈥�.

The consultancy work includes IT, human resources, business management and procurement services, as well as a role that involves directly managing the

A DIO spokesperson said it was looking for one or more firms - up to a maximum of five - to deliver the 鈥渋mplementation support鈥� work, but would not comment on the
cost.

He said the role of the consultant managing the procurement of the strategic business partner 鈥渃overs evaluation and negotiation with [short-listed] bidders鈥� as well as the 鈥渃oncluding negotiation and selecting the preferred bidder鈥�.

The spokesperson added that the DIO has already been using the services of consultant Deloitte since May 2011 to support its work, as it was undertaking 鈥渁 very large and complex change programme, requiring some skills that are not readily available in the department鈥�.

This is despite a government-wide crackdown on the use of consultants, driven by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.

Last month the Defence Select Committee warned that the DIO, which is undergoing a reduction in headcount from 7,000 to 2,000, may not be 鈥渟ufficiently robust and properly staffed to carry out the work required of it鈥�.

The DIO spokesperson said ministers had approved a business case 鈥渢o seek consultancy support to provide the key skills, experience and wide-ranging knowledge needed to deliver the transformation programme鈥�.

鈥淭imescales for the transformation programme are extremely challenging. To draft in sufficient staff required to deliver the transformation programme would have meant that DIO was unable to deliver our day-to-day business,鈥� he said.

The spokesperson would not say how much Deloitte had been paid for its work to date, but added that 鈥渨here Deloitte consultants are bringing new skills into DIO, there is a requirement in the contract for them to undertake skills transfer to DIO staff, thus reducing the long-term need for consultancy support鈥�.