§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the task of compiling the schools' league tables was contracted out; and whether it was offered to the lowest competitive tender; and whether they believe they have received value for money.
§ Baroness BlatchThe task of compiling the 1992 school performance tables was contracted out to a private sector company following a competitive tendering exercise involving 18 potential suppliers. The contract was awarded to the tenderer offering the proposal considered best overall, in terms of factors such as quality and ability to deliver on time, as well as price. The Government are satisfied with the performance of the appointed contractors, and consider that they have provided good value for money. Of 250,000 factors relating to 4,600 schools, 99WA only 11 significant errors have so far been substantiated as the fault of the DFE or its contractors.
§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will withdraw the current printing of schools' league tables and offer a corrected version; and what would be the cost to public funds of such an operation.
§ Baroness BlatchThere is no question of withdrawing the 1992 school performance tables. Comparatively few complaints have been received concerning alleged inaccuracies in the published information, and, in an operation involving a quarter of a million statistics and 100,000 words, only 11 significant errors have so far been shown to be the fault of the Department for Education or its contractors. In all these cases, erratum slips are being issued to correct the position, and a full apology is being sent to the schools concerned.