The government has spent more than £6.2m on external consultants since the start of the current administration.

Payments range from more than £1m for the ongoing Covid review to less than £10,000 for a survey of wellbeing in schools.

Figures have been released by Chief Minister Alfred Cannan in a written reply to a Tynwald question from Douglas South MHK Claire Christian.

The information has been sorted into bands of spend with the actual cost not revealed in order to protect commercial confidentiality.

It shows that 170 reports have been commissioned since October 2021, at a total cost of £6,238,553, with seven costing in excess of £250,000.

Two cost £750,000 to £1m - the KPMG report on government’s economic strategy and a report into cost improvement by the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for Manx Care.

Four reports cost between £250,000 and £500,000, and eight were between £100,000 and £250,000, including a review into the role of the Attorney General and a report on the Liverpool ferry terminal, and nine were in the £50,000-£100,000 price band including an Expol investigation commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care.

A further 20 reports cost £20,000-50,000, including reviews into the Office of Human Resources and the regional swimming pools.

The report into the sex education curriculum was among the 34 reports costing £10,000-20,000, while a further 92 cost less than £10,000.

Among those falling into the lowest cost band were a report on the development and use of artificial intelligence and a feasibility study for mountain bike trails.

The published data excludes reports for capital schemes such as feasibility reports.

Data for the legislature is also not included as it is not considered a government body and neither is Manx National Heritage as it is technically a charity.