According to a recent article in the Sunday Telegraph, the MP for Surrey Heath who is so focused on strengthening basic skills in our schools, has failed to apply some simple sums in his own department. According to the article, there are several consultants working for extended periods on day rates for the department, some with contracts of up to 10 years which stretches credulity to breaking limits (no one can seriously believe that there will be a Conservative Government in place after the next election). The use of consultants in any area of government can be seen as contentious by some people and for that reason it is vital that care is taken by commissioning Ministers such as Mr Gove. Based on the article the DfE is  claiming that the reason why the consultants are used so extensively is that the department lacks the skills needed. Whilst this is a classic reason for using consultants it overlooks the simple fact that if any organisation contracts consultants on a long term basis, they are by default employing these specialists. More importantly a day rate is intended to reflect the lack of security of tenure for the specialists concerned. A long-term contract as this article suggests would allow a much better deal to be struck with anyone offering to tender for this work. The alternative would be for individuals within the department (or specially hired for the purpose) to develop the skills and expertise themselves. The majority of primary school children would understand this very basic rule of supply and demand (although they would usually apply it to products such as Moshi Monsters or Pokémon cards rather than educational consultants!).