§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from his Department since724W November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition, with, in each instance, the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in-house bid.
§ Mr. AitkenDetailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The services contracted out since November 1991 have, however, included some cases where a substantive in-house bid was not tested against external competition, but not necessarily because an in-house bid was "excluded". The reasons for these include the requirement being for a short-term contract making in-house provision impracticable, and the in-house operation being invited to bid but declining to do so.