The U.K. Government cut its spending on law firms and barristers by 10% last year as the number of its in-house lawyers increased, according to new research.

Findings by Thomson Reuters suggest law firms have been feeling the impact of a government efficiency drive when it comes to legal spending, with a growing bench of in-house lawyers set tasks previously done by external advisers.

The research shows that the government spent £196.4m on external legal advice for the year to 31 March, 2018, according to an analysis of spending by 37 departments out of 47. In 2016-17, the legal spend figure was £217.2m.

Thomson Reuters' director of public sector, academic and Bar, Desmond Brady, said in a statement: "The focus on developing its in-house legal services has enabled the government to successfully manage down its spending on external law firms and barristers.

"However, external legal advisers continue to add value when required. At any one time, the government is involved in a wide range of legal engagements and this isn't going to change, which maintains the need for external advisers."

Brady added, meanwhile, that the impact of Brexit may encourage the government to continue to look to law firms for expertise on legislative matters in areas such as product standards, immigration and agriculture.

"The huge additional workload that Brexit represents will likely test the resilience of the Government Legal Department's (GLD) consolidated model – it will, no doubt, be running at full capacity.

"The legal profession expects Brexit will result in an increase in work for external law firms. We'd expect to see the same picture for government lawyers."

One City trade partner agreed that sorting through the legislative impact of Brexit could prove to be too much for the GLD to handle without additional help.

They said: "The absence of any sort of political decision means that a department that would be stretched with one scenario will likely be overwhelmed by three potential scenarios."

Meanwhile, the largest public sector legal consortium in the U.K. has surpassed its 150-member milestone in offering an affordable framework of legal services from seven law firms, which includes Weightmans and Freeths.

EM LawShare, which was set up in 2006, said today that the consortium has saved the public purse in excess of £20 million by helping public sector and local government organisations source affordable legal advice.

EM LawShare chair Jayne Francis-Ward said in a statement: "The rate of members joining is a clear indication of the importance of consortiums such as this, saving significant public expenditure.

"As budgets are squeezed at local level, we expect demand to rise further. This growth will allow our seven legal partners access to a regular pipeline of work in return for providing more financially viable legal support to our members."

The other five law firms to be covered by the consortium are: Anthony Collins Solicitors, Bevan Brittan, Browne Jacobson, Geldards, and Sharpe Pritchard.