HC Deb 13 September 2004 vol 424 cc1486-7W
Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 2001–02 to(a) PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst and Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case. [182269]

Mr. Pearson

The following table sets out the number of contacts awarded by the eleven Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office in each year from 2001 to date:

Year contract awarded
2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
PriceWaterhouseCoopers 4 11 6
Deloitte and Touche 1 2
KPMG 1 1 1
Ernst and Young 1

The following table sets out the total fees paid in respect of these contracts:

£
Year contract awarded
2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
PriceWaterhouseCoopers 1,984,445 608,852 1,282,934
Deloitte and Touche 34,738 22,060
KPMG 88,800 22,555 332,513
Ernst and Young 99,845

Both tables cover contracts where the company identified was either the sole contractor or the lead partner in a consortium. Where the company was the lead partner in a consortium the figures quoted for fees paid include payments it would have been contractually obliged to make to the other partners in the consortium. In these circumstances the contracting authority is not in a position to identify payments to consortium members.

It should also be noted that a number of public services to which these contracts relate are the responsibility of local authorities or private companies in England and Wales, but are fully funded through central Government in Northern Ireland.