§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if the local office information system computer project will be available for the private sector contractors in the Insolvency Service to use. [27682]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansYes.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what procedures will be put in place to guarantee a high quality level of service from the contracted out operations of the Insolvency Service. [27681]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe final specification and contract will clearly state the standards of service expected from contractors. Contract monitoring by official receivers offices will ensure these standards are met and maintained.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to provide training to Insolvency Service employees unused to contract management. [27685]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansPlanning to provide training to the Insolvency Service employees in aspects of contract management is currently under way. All staff likely to be involved in contract management will receive relevant training prior to the contracting out.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will consult Parliament before contracting out further services of the Insolvency Service, other than those that are already planned to be contracted out. [27677]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThere is no intention to contract out any additional functions of the official receiver other than those currently being considered.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what procedures will exist to ensure that the private sector will(a) operate impartially and (b) respect confidentiality, when Insolvency Service operations are contracted out to the private sector. [27679]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe final specification and contract will clearly state the standards of performance, including impartiality and confidentiality, expected from contractors. Contract monitoring by official receivers' offices will ensure these standards are met and maintained.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how much it will cost annually to monitor the contracts of providers in the Insolvency Service. [27686]
370W
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansIt is still too early in the process to determine any costs of contracting out. The cost of monitoring any contracts entered into with private sector providers will be dependent on the total number of contracts let.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to ensure that an Insolvency Service investigation will not be prejudiced by part of the investigation being dealt with in the private sector and the other part being handled in the public sector. [27678]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe separation of the preliminary investigation and any further investigation currently works effectively in many official receivers' offices by increasing the efficiency of dealing with targeted cases in need of further investigation. Contract management and monitoring of private sector providers by official receivers' offices will ensure that contracting out will not have any detrimental effect on the investigation procedure.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that those people who will carry out the duties of the contracted-out services of the Insolvency Service will be obliged to hold the same qualifications as are required now of Insolvency Service employees. [27676]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe requirement scoping document which will be made available to selected potential bidders will set out levels of experience and competencies of staff that will be required by private sector providers. Any contractor must satisfy these requirements.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what response he has made to the suggestion of the official receivers that insolvency practitioners could be appointed either as a liquidator or trustee, with the payment of fees guaranteed. [27688]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThis option was considered by Stoy Hayward whose report concluded that it would expose far less of the official receivers' work to competition from the private sector and, if insolvencies were once again to rise, would not prevent the official receivers' specialist investigative resources from being increasingly consumed in the initial stages of casework.