§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Robertson) of 26 May,Official Report, column 589, if he will list the consultants which his Department has invited to tender for the studies into the financial assistance which he provides for lifeline shipping services and the organisation and structure of Caledonian MacBrayne; if he will require them to declare any actual or potential conflict of interest and to give a commitment not to use for any other purpose the information gleaned during the course of the study; if he will publish the terms of reference of the study; and if he will publish the report.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 19 July 1993]: The consultants who have been invited to tender for the review of shipping subsidies and study of options for the future organisation and structure of Caledonian MacBrayne are as follows:
- Ash Consulting Group
- Coopers and Lybrand
- KPMG Management Consulting
- Noble and Company Ltd.
- PA Cambridge Economic Consultants Ltd.
- Price Waterhouse
- Quayle Munro Ltd.
- Touche Ross and Co.
The consultants will be required to declare any actual or potential conflict of interest and due consideration will be given to this issue in deciding which consultants should be appointed to undertake the studies. The consultants will be bound by standard Scottish Office conditions of contract for consultancy services which require that confidential and commercially sensitive information
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Expenditure on discretionary awards (£000) in 1991–92 constant prices 1986–87 1987–88 1988–90 1990–91 City of London — — — 219.6 Camden (1) — — — n/a Greenwich — — — 377.2 Hackney — — — 1,244.0 obtained by reason of the contract shall not be disclosed for any other purpose. When the contract for this assignment is awarded, I shall arrange to place in the Library a copy of the terms of reference for the studies. The studies will necessarily involve examination of confidential and commerially sensitive information which it would not be appropriate to publish. However, the Scottish Office will discuss with the consultants the extent to which it would be possible to publish the findings and conclusions of the studies without breaching commercial confidentiality.