§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the projects undertaken for his Department by(a) outside consultants, (b) academic researchers and (c) university departments since 1 May 1997, giving the total expenditure incurred in each category. [144084]
§ Mr. HainFCO expenditure on projects involving outside consultants was £15.8 million in 1997–98, £14.5 million in 1998–99 and £14.0 million in 1999–2000. Their expertise was sought mainly to help obtain value for money in property and information technology capital projects, both in the UK and abroad. It would involve disproportionate expense to list the projects individually.
The FCO does not collect separate data on expenditure on academic researchers and university departments. It would involve disproportionate expense to retrieve this information and itemise the projects.