§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what work has been contracted out by the Natural Resources Institute as a direct result of the redundancies announced in January 1994 in(a) oilseeds, (b) mycotoxins and (c) other areas.
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§ Mr. Lennox-BoydResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Natural Resources Institute under its chief executive, Mr. Anthony Beattie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Anthony Beattie to Mr. Tom Clarke, dated 20 June 1994:
1. Mr. Lennox-Boyd has aked me to reply to your question about the amount of work contracted out by NRI as a direct result of the staff reductions announced in January.2. We have so far contracted out work to the value of £6,300 in the oilseeds area. No work has been contracted out so far in mycotoxins or in other areas. It may, of course, prove necessary to do so in due course but I have no reason at this stage to think that this will be a substantial requirement.
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what steps he will take to protect and guarantee the integrity of aid expenditure decisions relating to work undertaken by the Natural Resources Institute following a change in ownership of the institute;
(2) if he will rule out a change of ownership for the Natural Resources Institute.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) on 26 January, at column272. Options for the future ownership of the Natural Resources Institute are still being considered. Whatever the future ownership of NRI, contracts placed with it by the ODA will continue to be subject to all normal ODA procedures which are designed to ensure effective development and value for money.