§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Attorney-General if he will list the studies conducted inside his Department by management consultants over the last 10 years, naming the consultancy, the cost, the subject and the outcome in each instance.
§ The Attorney-GeneralNo such studies have been conducted within the legal secretariat to the Law Officers or the Serious Fraud Office. In the case of the Treasury Solicitor's Department the firm of Peat Marwick McLintock advised on the installation of a computerised time recording and billing system. The cost of this consultation was £86,337.63 and the system has now been installed.
Since the service was created in 1986, the following studies by management consultants have been carried out in the Crown prosecution service.
- Strategic planning and budgeting study by Hay Management Consultants, completed April 1987, cost £37,000, results—strategy set and planning system implemented;
- Telecommunications strategy study by Logica, completed January 1987, cost £20,000, result—strategy set;
- Internal communications study by Charles Barker Communications, completed December 1987, cost £29,000, result—internal communication manager appointed and work on improving internal communications put in hand;
- Information study, assistance from The Mindworks Partnership, cost £37,000, completed December 1988, result—programme of work to develop internal information systems put in hand;
- Staffing model feasibility study by PA Management Consultants, cost £37,000, completed December 1988, result—feasibility established leading to full study;
- Staffing model development by PA Management Consultants, completed January 1990, cost £135,000, result—model produced, currently being tested and refined;
- Evaluation of the use of information technology to present evidence in court by The Human Science and Advanced Technology Research Centre, Loughborough University, completed February 1990, cost £15,000, result —evaluation report produced and supplied to other relevant organisations;
- Review of CPS contract car-hire scheme by Transtech Consultancy Services, completed April 1990, cost £14,000, the report is now being considered.