§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to(a) pilot test contracting out of the work of the Insolvency Service and (b) evaluate the pilot scheme prior to deciding whether to accept the recommendations of the Stoy Hayward report.
§ Mr. HeseltineI have asked my officials to begin work on devising a specification which could be the subject of an invitation to tender to private sector contractors. They will be advised in this work by consultants. Only when that work is nearer completion would it be possible to decide whether there should be a pilot scheme and on the detail of evaluation criteria.
Any decision to contract out work of official receivers or to invite private sector contractors to bid for such work would be subject to the passage of the Deregulation arid Contracting Out Bill currently before Parliament and the procedures applicable to contracting out which are set out in it including the requirement to consult with official receivers as statutory office holders.