§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years; what has been the annual value of the contracts; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.
§ Mr. David DavisDuring the past 10 years the Cabinet Office—including agencies, HMSO and the Central Office of Information—has employed private security firms as follows:
Year Number of firms Annual cost (£) 1984–85 7 215,954 1985–86 10 311,040 1986–87 11 388,829 1987–88 11 395,098 1988–89 11 460,082 1989–90 12 484,816 1990–91 12 632,433 1991–92 13 722,195 1992–93 14 847,528 1993–94 14 875,873 It is not possible to estimate how many guards have been employed for each of these years.