§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the Government's policy on answering under the citizens charter questions from members of the public concerning Government policy and its effect where the information can be obtained from the Central Statistical Office databank on payment to an outside contractor.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Government's policy under the citizens charter of extending access to official information is supported by the code of practice on access to Government information. The code does not, however, require Departments to provide information which is provided as part of an existing charged service other than through that service. Any data on the CSO databank can be obtained directly from the CSO as well as from outside contractors.
1989–90 Number of contracts per firm per category Gen. MGT CON. IT. Privatisation (Includes Market Testing) Next steps (includes prior option studies) Coopers and Lybrand 33 44 2 0 KPMG Peat Marwick 13 1 0 0 Ernst and Young 18 0 0 0 Price Waterhouse 24 1 1 0 Arthur Andersen 0 0 0 0 Touche Ross 24 3 5 0 Grant Thornton 0 0 0 0 Robson Rhodes 0 0 0 0 Pannell Kerr Forster 0 0 0 0 Contracts Total 112 49 8 0 Total amount of spend by 9 listed Consultancy groups £2,239,941.
1990–91 Number of contracts per firm per category Gen. MGT CON. IT. Privatisation (Includes Market Testing) Next steps (includes prior option studies) Coopers and Lybrand 28 29 1 1 KPMG Peat Marwick 7 1 0 0 Ernst and Young 14 1 0 0 Price Waterhouse 28 1 0 0 Arthur Andersen 0 0 0 0 Touche Ross 5 0 0 0 Grant Thornton 0 0 0 0 Robson Rhodes 0 0 0 0 Pannell Kerr Forster 0 0 0 0 Contracts Total 82 32 1 1 Total amount of spend by 9 listed Consultancy groups £2,200,062.