Over £340,000 of public money has been spent on hiring ‘life coaches’ for civil servants, it has emerged.

The spending was exposed in responses to parliamentary questions from Conservative trade and industry spokesman, Alan Duncan. The answers revealed that three government departments have offered classes to help staff deal with the pressures of work.

For example, the Treasury paid £29,226, plus VAT, to coaching firm Praesta Partners last year. The company aims to help leaders “do their current job better and prepare for their next role”. The Cabinet Office spent £50,348.75 during the same period, while the Department for Constitutional Affairs spent the most – £40,000 to ER Consultants for “change-management activities”, and a £22,000 deal with Praesta for coaching programmes.

Duncan blamed cabinet splits for the outlays. “Ministers’ constant bickering is clearly taking its toll,” he said. “But there’s no reason why taxpayers should be forking out for their shrinks. These figures probably only represent the tip of the iceberg – just three departments have revealed their spending on psychologists so far. The final bill across Whitehall could total several million pounds.”