HC Deb 14 July 1995 vol 263 cc803-5W
Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which her Department has been engaged since 1980. [33467]

Mr. Sproat

My Department commissioned a consultant to examine future options, one of which was privatisation, for the future of the BBC transmission service. The cost of this consultancy was £172,000.

Neither of my two agencies has commissioned any consultancy of this nature.

Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will indicate which five consultancy firms have received most contracts from her Department(a) by number of contracts and (b) monetary value in the last five years of which figures are available. [33448]

Mr. Sproat

My Department was established in April 1992 and took on- responsibility for funding its own consultancies in August 1992. All contracts are awarded on the basis of value for money. To date the five consultancy firms which have received the most contracts from my Department, by number of contracts and monetary value, are as follows:

Number of contracts
Consultancy firm Number of contracts
KPMG Peat Marwick 6
Watts and Partners 5
Search Training International 4
Hill Samuel Blank Limited 3
Moon Communications 3

(b) Monetary value
Consultancy firm Value of contracts awarded (exclusive VAT) £
KPMG Peat Marwick 332,000
Hill Samuel Bank Limited 327,000
Touche Ross 192,000
Simmons Surveys 150,000

Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many contracts her Department has had with consultants; and what has been the total cost in each of the last five years. [33566]

Mr. Sproat

My Department was established in April 1992 and took on responsibility for funding its own consultancies in August 1992. Since that time my Department and its two agencies have awarded 166 contracts to consultancy firms. The total cost in each of the years for which figures are available is as follows:

Year Expenditure £
1992–93 2,078,513
1993–94 2,466,753
1994–95 1,622,022

Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage which firms of consultants employed by her Department over the last year have been paid more than £1,000 per day. [33876]

Mr. Sproat

[holding answer 12 July 1995]: During the last year my Department has awarded contracts to several consultancy firms. Only in two instances have we paid more than £1,000 per day for the services of an individual consultant. These particular contracts were with KPMG and Hill Samuel Bank Ltd.

Mr. Alan Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage which firms have won computer consultancy contracts from her Department and its agencies over the last five years; and what is the number of contracts per firm. [33888]

Mr. Sproat

[holding answer 12 July 1995]: My Department was established in April 1992 and took on responsibility for funding its own consultancies in August 1992. The following computer consultants have been engaged by my Department and its agencies since that time.

Name of contracts Number of consultant awarded
Sema 1
SISL 1
CCTA 11
Internet Solutions 1
Profile Consultants 1
Mr. Page 1
KPMG 1
SouthBank Systems PLC 1
Simmons Survey Partnership 1
1 Call-off arrangement.

Mr. Milburn

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much her Department and its agencies have spent on computer consultancy in each of the last five years; and what is the expected expenditure over the next five years. [33858]

Mr. Sproat

[holding answer 12 July 1995]: The Department of National Heritage was established on 13 April 1992. Since that date my Department's expenditure on computer consultancy support has been as follows:

  • 1992–93: £201,456
  • 1993–94: £38,000
  • 1994–95: £231,850
  • 1995–96: £219,000

Expenditure on computer consultancy support in the next five years will reflect business requirements and is likely to be broadly similar to that for 1995–96.