§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement of his policy on awarding contracts for construction and refurbishment work on the diplomatic estate, indicating, specifically, the steps which are taken to ensure that opportunities to tender are drawn to the attention of British companies.
§ Mr. GoodladThe FCO's policy is to contract with British firms where competition establishes that they provide best value for money, and where their 369W participation is practicable in local circumstances. All major construction and refurbishment projects are advertised in the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Community, in accordance with our obligations under the EC Public Procurement Directive for Works. Information about a wider range of projects is also periodically sent to the Export Group for the Constructional Industries for circulation to its members.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent construction work has been undertaken on the proposed embassy in Berlin; to which companies major contracts have been awarded; what nationality are those companies; what is the value of the contracts; and what steps have been taken to ensure that British companies had the opportunity to tender for the work.
§ Mr. GoodladThe proposed embassy in Berlin is still at pre-planning stages, and no construction work has yet been carried out. In due course, the project will be advertised in the supplement to theOfficial Journal of the European Community in accordance with our obligations under the EC Public Procurement Directive for Works and its details will be sent to the Export Group for the Constructional Industries.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent construction work has been undertaken on the high commission in Islamabad; to which companies the major contracts were awarded; what nationality were those companies; what was the value of the contracts; and what steps were first taken to ensure that British companies had the opportunity to tender for the work.
§ Mr. GoodladThe construction of a new Immigration and Consular building, at a total contract value of about £4.8 million, is currently proceeding in Islamabad. Glauser International, a French contractor with an established operation in Pakistan, is the main contractor. The sub-contractor for the mechanical, electrical and services engineering work (valued at about £2.2 million) is the British firm Balfour Kilpatrick Ltd. This project was drawn to the attention of the Export Group for the Constructional Industries. Eight contractors, including five British, were invited to bid.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent construction work has been undertaken on the embassy in Kiev; to which companies the major contracts were awarded; what nationality were those companies; what was the value of the contracts; and what steps were first taken to ensure that British companies had the opportunity to tender for the work.
§ Mr. GoodladThe recently-occupied embassy and residence building in Kiev is currently being refurbished at total contract cost of about £300,000. All the contracts were awarded to British companies: Rotary International, Kitchen World and Amity International Ltd. The tender lists were derived from contractors who had expressed an interest in the project.