§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his latest estimates of the expenditure on all external consultants, including management consultants, for each year since 1992, in 1996 prices, for his Department and its agencies; and what are the quantified annual cost savings which such expenditure has resulted in. [41175]
1088W
§ Mr. ArbuthnotIndividual budget holders in my Department have delegated powers to employ external consultants as they think fit within the limit of their resources and consistent with all requirements for propriety and value for money. The information required has therefore not hitherto been held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Furthermore, external consultants may be engaged by budget holders for assistance on a wide range of problems, but very seldom with the sole specific aim of securing financial savings.
My officials have now begun to collect data from all areas of the Department to establish the total expenditure on external consultancy. The exercise covering financial year 1995–96 was completed earlier this year and revealed that expenditure by the Department, including its agencies, in that period was £150.8 million. I wrote on 21 June 1996 to the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy), a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House, giving a breakdown of this expenditure.
A similar exercise will be undertaken to show expenditure during 1996–97. Once the information is to hand I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.