§ Ms MowlamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1992 and indicate, in each case, whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision, or whether the service was contracted out.
§ Mr. GoodladOf the activities to be investigated for market testing in the diplomatic wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, decisions have been reached on three. The client function for the television facilities unit has been transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from the Central Office of Information; installation of local radio networks and satellite communications by in-house teams will effectively be abolished in 1994; and supply services for office stationery and machinery are being contracted out. Of the activities scheduled to be market tested in the aid wing, one, administration of overseas pensions, has almost been completed. The service is to be retained in-house.