A new report from the Court of Audit estimates that consultancy services cost Belgium's Federal Government a total of €2.5 billion between 2020 and 2022.
The IT sector accounts for most of these expenses – amounting to €2 billion – while other sectors represent €492.4 million, according to the report, dated 22 October but first publicised on Wednesday.
The Court of Audit said that heavy reliance on IT consultancy services stems from difficulties in recruiting permanent or contract staff within federal organisations, and by the lack of an adequate definition for the types of services that can be seconded.
The number of IT professionals from Egov Select, which handles IT recruitment for government entities, and Smals, responsible for the federal IT infrastructure, saw a 48.5% increase, from 1,395 in 2019 to 2,072 in 2024.
Smals alone spent €126.1 million on consultancy, accounting for 78% of the organisation’s procurement budget.
Furthermore, 84% of IT consultancy costs came from 15 service providers, including federal organisations such as Ypto (a subsidiary of the Belgian National Railway Company providing IT solutions), Smals, and Egov, alongside ProUnity, a recruitment company.
The Belgian National Railway Company (SNCB/NMBS) and Infrabel saw the largest consultancy expenditures, with €465.1 million (9% of procurement budget) and €318.5 million (12%), respectively.
Nearly 80% of cases lacked proper justification
There is no centralised, reliable, or comprehensive inventory for consultancy missions.
Having reviewed consultancy expenses across 137 federal organisations, the Court of Audit identified systematic breaches of procurement regulations in 101 public procurement contracts worth €2.2 billion. 78.2% of cases have either missing or insufficient justifications for using consultancy services.
The Court recommends implementing a uniform definition of consultancy, categorised by activity type, and creating a centralised, exhaustive inventory of consultancy services.
It also calls for establishing a strategy, a clear framework, and reporting methods for the use of consultancy.
The Arizona coalition government also aims to minimise the reliance on external consultancy.
