§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many staff in his Department are assigned to the market testing programme; how much the programme has cost his Department since November 1991; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarEight staff in my Department are assigned to the market testing programme. Since November 1991, the programme has cost the Department £460,000. This covers direct staff costs and consultants brought in to add private sector skills in line with the principles of the "Competing for Quality" White Paper.
670W
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1991; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out; what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarFollowing publication of the White Paper "Competing for Quality", I put forward a programme of market tests for completion by September 1993. While a number of these tests are at an advanced stage, none has yet completed the full process.
In the period in question, there have been numerous instances of contracting out services for management or policy reasons, but in these cases the formal testing of the market against internal provision has not been necessary.