§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those accountancy firms which have received consultancy contracts from his Department in the past three years, stating the subjects of such consultancy and the fees paid in each case.
230Wmargin of error may, therefore, be substantial.
The information is as follows:—
§ Mr. John GrantIn the past three years three accountancy firms, or firms with accountancy connections, have received consultancy contracts from the DE Group. One contract, originally awarded by my Department and subsequently taken over by the Employment Service Agency (ESA), was to Coopers and Lybrand Associates Limited. The subject was a 231W management information system, including financial and management accounting in the ESA.
I am informed by the Chairman of the Manpower Services Commission that, in addition to the contract which ESA took over, two further contracts have been awarded by the Training Services Agency (TSA) to accountancy firms. The subjects were management accounting in the TSA and human asset accounting and the contracts were awarded to Coopers and Lybrand Associates Limited and Spicer and Pegler respectively. I shall write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible about the expenditure incurred on these contracts.