§ Lord Carverasked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent market testing is being applied to the civil service operations of the Ministry of Defence and its Procurement Executive in London.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Viscount Cranborne)The department's market testing initiative extends throughout the department. Market testing is mandatory for certain civil service operations (for example cleaning and catering); the scope for market testing non-mandatory civil service operations, including London-based Procurement Executive operations, is evaluated with the same, rigour that is applied to other areas of work.