§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will give, where exact comparisons can be made, the costs of having the cleaning of Government offices done (a) by contract and (b) by civil servants, on those occasions when each method has been employed in turn.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisInformation currently held centrally does not permit valid comparisons of the costs of direct and contract cleaning over different periods of time as requested by the hon. Member. My Department and the union representing Civil Service cleaners, are, however, at present jointly conducting a study to compare the cleaning in Government offices by directly-employed staff and by contract labour in a selection of comparable situations. This study is at an early stage and results are not expected for some time.