§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list those parts of his Department or departmental agencies which were privatised without an in-house bid; if he will indicate the expertise which was absent in his Department or departmental agencies which prevented an in-house bid taking place; which future parts of his Department or departmental agencies he intends to privatise; and which of them do not have the necessary in-house expertise to mount an in-house bid. [29422]
§ Mr. HoramThose parts of the work of the Cabinet Office, its agencies, HMSO and COI which have been contracted-out without an in-house bid are as follows:
Agency Central OPSS Consortium Reports Publishing and Print Procurement Service CCTA GTN (Long-Distance) Chessington UNISON (Phase 1) CS College Prospectus Distribution RAS Catering Services Cleaning Services IT Hardware Maintenance IT Software Support Services HMSO Print Order Processing System Software Development: Business Supplies Software Development: Finance COI Videotext Unit The Cabinet Office, its agencies, HMSO and COI have contracted-out activities without inviting in-house bids where it has been judged that the private sector is clearly better equipped to deliver a specific service, has a better understanding of market needs, or the capacity to invest in new technology. Other decisions to contract-out services without inviting in-house bids have been taken where an activity is relatively small and peripheral to the Department's functions.
There are no current plans to contract-out any activities within the Cabinet Office, its agencies, HMSO and COI without inviting an in-house bid.