§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his Department's procurement policy with regard to offshore IT and call centre outsourcing; whether his Department is outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to offshore companies; to which countries his Department has outsourced these jobs; how much his Department has spent on this outsourcing in each of the last two years; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the next two years. [147593]
§ Hilary BennThe present policy in DFID is to undertake our IT work in the most cost-effective and efficient way with a blend of "in-house teams" and outsourcing where appropriate. We have no specific policy about offshore outsourcing but keep the situation under regular review.
The Department for International Development has no call centres. We have not outsourced any of our IT work to offshore companies nor do we have any specific budgets to do so in the next two years.
We have over 60 overseas offices, some of which are co-located with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and we recruit local staff to assist with the maintenance of our IT systems as required.