§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those parts of her Department or departmental agencies which were privatised without an in-house bid; if she will indicate the expertise which was absent in her Department or departmental agencies which prevented an in-house bid from taking place; which future parts of her Department or departmental agencies she intends to privatise; and which of them do not have the necessary in-house expertise to mount an in-house bid. [29427]
§ Mr. SackvilleDuring the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1995, the Department contracted out four activities without in-house bids: the welfare food scheme; the provision of office services at Quarry house, Leeds; security services at Richmond house; and building management for part of the London estate. In the case of the latter, the private sector was better equipped to deliver the service and to advise on the new technology that was required. The decision to contract out the other three activities was taken for management and operational reasons.
Contracting out is under consideration in a number of other areas but we have no firm plans as yet.