§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) what is the cost per man-day of the consultancy contracts to carry out energy audits so far awarded; and what other quotations have been received per man-day;
(2) if he will seek open competitive tenders before placing the contracts to carry out the recently-announced energy audits which his energy Thrift Unit intends to carry out.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe Department is developing and carrying out, jointly with the Department of Energy and in association with the CBI, a new form of energy analysis for auditing of industrial processes and products. The precise methods which will be used in these studies are a matter for research, since fuel, materials, and other factors are included, and discussions are taking place both nationally and internationally to obtain agreement on the way the analysis should be performed.
The Department has selected certain of the research associations to perform this task. The research associations were established with Government assistance to serve their own industries. They are supported and guided by their industries and have a detailed understanding of their industrial problems. They are directly concerned with the efficiency of industrial processes, including the use of energy, and are in the best position to obtain the required information on process and energy efficiency from their own industries. For these reasons it is not our intention to seek tenders for this work and no quotations have been received.
The work will be performed by the appropriate research associations at their 586W normal rates and on a non-profit-making basis. The contracts will be subjected to the normal processes of Government financial audit. Three contracts have been placed so far. It is not possible to provide at this stage estimates of the cost of the work to be carried out by the associations on the basis of cost per man-day. Precise costs have yet to be agreed but are expected to be about £45,000 for each contract.