§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the employment of polling or public survey organisations by his Department during the current and previous financial years, on the organisations employed by his Department, on the values of individual contracts for these services, on the total amounts of money spent and on the purposes of the research undertaken by these organisations. [14513]
§ Sir Paul Beresford[holding answer 20 March 1995]: The Department undertakes a wide range of research activities to assist in meeting its priority aims, as set out in the Department's annual report. In order to achieve this in an efficient and cost-effective manner, the Department employs research organisations on short-term contracts to undertake relevant and necessary public survey work. The main purpose of these surveys is to seek public views on key issues in order to monitor and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of departmental policy. Contracts are awarded on the basis of open competitive tendering, in line with government purchasing procedures.
In the current and previous financial years—that is, 1994–95 to date and 1993–94—the Department commissioned 39 public surveys from a variety of research bodies, including market research companies, academic bodies and commercial organisations. The total value of these contracts was in the order of £2.2 million. The value of individual contracts is a matter of commercial confidentiality.