The MPs noted that the Cabinet Office was ?unable to explain the reasons why there is such variation in departments? reductions in spending since stringent controls were introduced post-election?.
They questioned the wisdom of cutting the consultants? spending bill drastically, suggesting that it could lead to ?uninformed? short-term savings.
The committee said progress in developing the necessary in-house skills among existing civil servants had been ?far too slow?, leaving a serious shortage that would be made worse by cuts.
The MPs called for more contracts to be let on a fixed-price basis to prevent consultants deliberately slowing down their work to command higher fees,
At present, more than two thirds of Whitehall?s departments are paid according to time spent on the project.
Margaret Hodge MP, the Labour chairman of the committee, said departments were ?largely in the dark about whether this represents value for money?.
She said: ?Departments have become too reliant on buying in core skills rather than developing them in their own staff.
?It is a mark of departments? poor understanding of spending on consultancy that some have reacted to cost pressures by cutting that spending in an uninformed way.
?This runs the risk that short-term savings could lead to increased costs and poor value for money for the taxpayer in the long term.?
Richard Bacon MP, a senior Tory member of the committee, added: ?Whitehall needs to get in-house more of its own skilled people.
?However, in weaning themselves off quite so much consultancy advice, departments should also beware a ?cold turkey? approach, like the Department of Health?s determination to cut spending on consultants by 95 per cent by 2010-11.
?Unless government departments are very careful, this may simply herald a boom-time for consultants later if the skills required are not put in place in-house."
A Department for Transport spokesman said: ?We recently instigated new, more rigorous controls which require close examination and approval of any requests to appoint consultants.
"As a result, in the central department, we spent �12.5m less in the 6 months to September 2010, compared with the same period in 2009.
"There are legitimate reasons for differences between departments and there are circumstances when use of consultants is the best value for money option."
Examples given by the department included "short term work or where specialist skills, knowledge or services are needed, such as delivery of major infrastructure projects".
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