§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will allow Patent Office staff to bid for the marketing services of the Patent Office on equal terms with private firms; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will allow Patent Office staff to bid for the information technology services of the Patent Office on equal terms with private firms; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answers 30 January 1995]: As my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced in his reply to my hon. Friend the 614W Member for Windsor and Maidenhead (Mr. Trend) on 14 December 1994, Official Report, columns 657–58, when he confirmed executive agency status for the Patent Office, new targets will encourage the office to contract out activities wherever this is compatible with its statutory role and good value for money. In areas identified as candidates for contractorisation, bids for managing contracted-out services will be evaluated against benchmarks for the forecast cost and quality of service from in-house provision. In principle, management and staff bids could be allowable, although not on the basis that management and staff would remain civil servants if their bid was successful.