§ 37. Mr. McAllionTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if it is Government policy to consider directly privatising departmental activities before giving considera-tion to market testing them.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWhere an activity does not need to be managed by Government, we will consider whether it needs to be carried out at all or whether it should be privatised.
Where we consider that ultimate responsibility for a function should remain within Government, its delivery may be contracted out or market tested in order to see whether value for money can be improved.