§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what level of spending has been devoted by his Department to external consultancy work in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. FowlerThe information is as follows:
£ 1979–80 411,026 1980–81 390,930 1981–82 731,276 1982–83 1,315,588 1983–84 3,622,887 * 1984–85 3,711,596 * To 30 November 1984 The main reason for the recent increase has been the need to obtain experienced technical assistance with the development of advanced online computer systems for social security operations.