§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all of the reports her Department has commissioned from external consultants in each of the292W past three years; for each of the past three years, how many reports from external consultants to her Department led to further consultancy work being commissioned, stating for each of these who were the original and subsequent consultants and briefly describing the subject matter of the consultancy work; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Department let 229 contracts for external management consultancies in 1990–91, 174 in 1991–92 and 82 so far in the current year. We do not keep a record centrally of which consultancies resulted in reports and which led to further consultancy work being commissioned. The Department's purchasing and supply manual, which has been issued to all who commission consultants, stated that goods and services should be acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary. Details of the consultancy contracts have been placed in the Library.