§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of the number of civil service jobs likely to be lost as a consequence of market testing.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMarket testing is not about abolishing jobs but about testing whether services performed in-house or by the private sector offer better value for money.
Until the outcome of individual market testing exercises is known, it is not possible to say whether the question of job losses will arise.
Where, in the past, contracting out has offered best value for money, in most cases staff have been taken on by the contractor, or they have been redeployed by their Department or absorbed through natural wastage.