§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what areas of his Department are being considered for contracting out; and which offices and staff are involved; [5669]
(2) what agencies under the jurisdiction of his Department are being considered for contracting out; which offices and staff are involved; and if he will make a statement. [5670]
§ Mr. LangThe activities within my Department and its agencies which are either being considered for contracting out or where work is underway to contract 869W out under the "Competing for Quality" programme are as follows. Where work is underway contracting out will be dependent on the Department or agency receiving bids which offer value for money compared with keeping the activity in-house.
(i) In the Department:
- Principal Civil Service Pension Schemes (PCSPS) Administration
- Financial administration functions of Overseas Promotions Support.
(ii) In Agencies:
- Companies House:
- London Office and English satellite offices
- Edinburgh Office
- Cardiff Office:
- Customer Enquiry Unit
- Postal Search & Search Account Service
- Remittance processing
- Office Services.
- Patent Office:
- Facilities Management Services (Newport)
- Marketing & Information Directorate (Newport)
- Information Technology Services (Newport)
- London Front Office.
- The Insolvency Service:
- Case administration functions of Official Receivers in all Official Receivers' Offices.