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.

A spokesperson said: ‘The government has slashed spending on consultants by 70% - from £1.3 billion to £400m in the last financial year alone - with the MoJ reducing its spend by more than £10m.

‘While consultants can offer a fast and flexible way of obtaining necessary skills, we are committed to providing the taxpayer with value for money and always follow established government guidelines.’

Consultants have been brought in to advise on policies such as legal aid cuts, increased sentencing for knife crime and halving punishments for criminals entering an early plea - a proposal that was later dropped.

Shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter said it was ‘staggering’ to find out how much the MoJ has spent on consultants.

He added: ‘It's worse still when you know he is currently pushing through a bill that takes the same amount of money away from Citizens Advice and law centre advice on problems with debt, housing, disability allowances and clinical negligence.’