§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the future arrangements for the warehousing and distribution function of the Prison Service's Supply and Transport Branch.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Earl Ferrets)Following the market testing of the warehousing and distribution function, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary approved, in July 1992, the award of a contract to a private sector company, subjectinter alia to the negotiation of a satisfactory contract. It has not been possible to negotiate such a contract, and the next best bid, which is the in-house bid, now becomes the preferred bid. We have instructed officials to negotiate a service level agreement with the in-house providers. We expect the outcome of this market test to reduce the present costs of this function by about a quarter over three years.