The Government has spent £161,000 on consultants to ‘evaluate’ Parkrun, according to reports.
An economics consultancy has been given a five-month contract by Labour ministers ‘to provide an independent evaluation’ of the free 5km event that takes place across different locations across the UK.
More than 11 million people are registered to Parkrun, which claims to be the ‘biggest provider of free activity in the world’.
The runs, staffed by volunteers, are scheduled for 9am on Saturdays.
Critics have described the spending as ‘a staggering waste of public money’.
Nigel Huddleston, the shadow culture minister, told the Telegraph: ‘Spending £161,000 on consultants to “evaluate” a free, volunteer-run event like parkrun seems to be a staggering waste of public money, especially at a time when grassroots sports organisations are facing funding cuts.
‘Parkrun has been successful and well loved because it is simple, community led and low-cost. The Government doesn’t need to get expensive consultants in to tell us that getting people active is a good thing.’
In the published contract description, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was looking for ‘a supplier to provide an independent evaluation of parkrun’.
More than 11 million people are registered to Parkrun, which claims to be ‘biggest provider of free activity in the world’
Economics consultancy, Frontier Economics Limited, was given the £160,780 contract in October
It comes after Labour pledged to cut consultancy spending in half in its election manifesto.
In July 2024, Labour said that it would curb spending on consulting services to save £550m in 2025 and £680m in 2026
However, figures from Tussell showed a 5 per cent rise in consultancy spending in Labour’s first year, reaching £1.29bn, despite the Government cutting the total number of contracts awarded.
In 2024, parkrun became embroiled in a row over its transgender policies, following its controversial entry rules allowing biological men to self-identify as females.
Event organisers announced Parkrun would remove all gender, course and age records from its website amid a row over trans women athletes holding the fastest times in female categories.
It said the changes come after a review into how to present data ‘in a way that is not off-putting and doesn’t imply that parkrun is a race’.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: ‘We are committed to getting more people active, helping to alleviate the burden on the NHS, and data and insights on what works has an important role to play here.’
