§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the computer consultancies employed by his Department and agencies, since November 1991, the tasks for which they were engaged, and the total cost to his Department.
§ Mr. AitkenSince November 1991, my Department has placed 509 contracts worth a total of £23 million for consultancies related to administrative computer work. In addition, a number of divisions within my Department are empowered to place local orders for computer consultancy up to a maximum value of £25,000 per order; there were approximately 4,000 orders totalling some £1.2 million in this category.
I regret that it is not possible to provide more details without incurring disproportionate costs.