§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in the Land Registry 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. John M. TaylorThe hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning HM Registry's market testing programme.Since November 1991, market testing projects relating to the following services have been initiated:—
- Building Management/Maintenance and Estate Services
- Legal Services
- Catering
- Security Guarding
- Land Registry Surveys
- Land Registry Property Inspections
- Printing and Graphic Design
- Records Management
These projects are at varying stages of development but none that involve existing in-house provision have reached the point at which a contract has been awarded. The Registry will continue to participate in the service-wide initiative to market test appropriate services. The market testing programme is one component of the Registry's commitment to improve the quality of the service it provides and ensure that its customers receive best value for money.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Land Registry are assigned to the market-testing programme; how much the programme has cost the Land Registry since November 1991; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. John M. TaylorThe hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning resources used in HM Land Registry's market testing programme.The Registry has appointed a Project Board to oversee its market testing programme. Staff involved with the programme report, via Project Managers, to the Project Board. The equivalent of approximately 6 full time staff are engaged on this work. From November 1991 to date, the total staff and non-staff costs associated with the programme is estimated to be £250,000.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Lord Chancellor's 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. John M. TaylorThere are 12 staff assigned to the market testing programme in the Lord Chancellor's Department. The programme has cost £375,000 since November 1991. These figures include those engaged on the review of enforcement agents and their cost, as well as the costs of those consultants engaged to assist with managing the programme.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in the Lord Chancellor's Department since November 1991; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out; and what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. TaylorSince November 1991 the Lord Chancellor's Department has put out to tender the professional services required to manage its accommodation and development of new court buildings. Prior io that date these services were provided by PSA Services.
Lists of the commissions which have been let are as follows:
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Court Building Scheme Service Company Bournemouth Design Stride Treglown Bournemouth Quantity Surveying deeds Docklands Feasibility and Design Kyle Stewart Docklands Estate Surveying Knight Frank and Rutley Docklands Quantity Surveying C. F. Baker and Partners Cardiff Project Management W. S. Atkins Crawley Feasibility and Design PSA Projects Staines Feasibility and Design Kyle Stewart Staines Estate Surveying PSA BM South East
Scheme Service Company Neath Project Management W. S. Atkins Pontypridd Project Management W. S. Atkins Leicester Project Management CS Project Management Newport Isle of Wight Project Management TT Project Management Bournemouth Project Management Widnell Project Management
Estate management Group/circuit Managing agent Chelmsford group Drivers Jonas Kingston group Drivers Jonas Western circuit "A" PSA Bournemouth Western circuit "B" Torpy M&O circuit E. C. Harris North East circuit Bernard Thorpe HQ building PSA (BM) SE London group McBains Northern circuit Grimley J. R. Eve Maidstone group McBains RCJ Turner and Townsend Wales and Chester Torpy
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the firms of consultants used by the Land Registry as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John. M. TaylorThe hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning the use of consultants as part of HM Land Registry's market testing programme.The Land Registry has used the following consultants to assist in carrying through its market testing programme:—
- Building Management/Maintenance and Estate
- Services—Acer Consultants Limited
- Catering—Touche Ross
The estimated total cost in the current financial year is £152,000. The Registry employs external consultants for market testing purposes when there is a need to supplement the expertise and experience of its own staff. That policy will continue to be applied to future market testing programmes.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the firms of consultants used by the Lord Chancellor's Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe firms of consultants used by the Lord Chancellor's Department as part of the market-testing programme since November 1991 are: 727W
- PE International
- AMTEC Consulting
- DM Management Consultants Ltd.
- Kyte and Co.
- Coopers and Lybrand
- Price Waterhouse
- MBA Consultants
The total cost as at 1 March 1993 is £152,000.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Attorney-General if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from the Land Registry since November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition, with, in each instance, the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in-house bid.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning services contracted out from HM Land Registry.Since November 1991 no further services or functions have been contracted out from the Land Registry. In-house bids are being invited in respect of each of the internal services currently included in the Land Registry's market testing programme.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.