§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the number of private security firms currently employed by his Department, the number of employees for each firm on the contract, the total value of each contract and the total value of all contracts for each financial year since 1984–85.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office currently employs only one such firm, Security Express Guards Ltd., which provides a cash in transit service. The value of this contract is commercially confidential.
Until 1987 we also employed Reliance Security; and until 1990 Group 4 Total Security Ltd. Detailed information on these, and earlier records for the existing contract, are not kept in a centralised form and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
A number of Her Majesty's overseas missions also employ private security firms. Again, detailed records are not kept centrally.