§ Mr. Matesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the contracts, with the subject of the assignment, awarded to management consultancy or accounting firms by the Treasury, Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue in 1986, with the name of the consultants concerned.
§ Mr. Brookethe information requested for the Treasury was given in response to the question of the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 18 February 1987 at column675.
The management consultancy contracts awarded by the Inland Revenue in 1986 were:
- (i) The development of manpower planning techniques—Institute of Manpower Studies;
- (ii) the development of personnel planning techniques—Institute of Manpower Studies;
- (iii) development of financial costing and modelling systems—Peat, Marwick, McLintock.
The Department continued to receive assistance during 1986 from Peat, Marwick, McLintock on the development of financial management techniques and on clerical work measurement in tax offices.
In addition, the Department also used consultancy services in a wide range of areas, including information technology, operational research and public and staff relations, which, while not falling within the general classification of management consultancy, have some similarity to it.
Customs and Excise do not maintain central records of such contracts. An exhaustive check would involve disproportionate time and effort, but the following have been identified:
- (i) advice on a systems testing strategy—BIS Applied Systems;
- (ii) a study of computer terminal strategy—Peat, Marwick, McLintock;
- (iii) a study of communications network strategy—Peat, Marwick, McLintock;
- (iv) a study in the VAT area of data capture and measures of achievement—Arthur Andersen & Co;
- (v) a study on the potential use of certain commercial accounting packages—Peat, Marwick, McLintock.