The amount of money that schools spend on consultants has almost trebled in 15 years, according to government figures published today.

And a union has warned that schools may be falling prey to “snake oil salesman” charging hundreds of pounds a day, who take advantage of them having nowhere to turn for advice in complicated areas such as human resources and safeguarding.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, told Tes: “Schools are paying inflated prices for support and advice which they used to get from their local authority.

“They have very complicated legal responsibilities around things like land, safeguarding, health and safety and employment contracts, and they turn to consultants because it’s all they’ve got.

“I would imagine that the standard of advice is highly variable, but how it is evaluated is anyone’s guess. Some consultancy will be value for money but a lot of it won’t be, and some schools will be falling prey to snake oil salesman.”

Schools 'have nowhere else to turn to'

The Department for Education’s "Trends in schools' spending" document shows that schools’ total overall spending per pupil has risen by 42 per cent in real terms in the past 15 years, yet the amount spent on teaching staff has risen by only 17 per cent.

Spending on education support staff has risen 138 per cent, while spending on energy bills has risen by 75 per cent and spending on supply teachers has gone up 64 per cent.

But the biggest increase was in spending on education consultancy, which was 196 per cent higher in 2016-17 than in 2002-3.

Dr Bousted said schools could save money if they worked together to share guidance and best practice, rather than paying hundreds of pounds a day to consultants.

She suggested that schools pay into local, middle-tier organisations made up of experts from which they could seek advice, and who would be around in the long run to provide follow-up guidance.

She added: “What’s important is how schools follow the advice and make it count in the long run long after the consultant has gone.”