§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 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. [29415]
§ Mr. GoodladSince April 1992, no parts of the FCO diplomatic wing or its agency, Wilton Park, have been privatised without an in-house bid.
Two contracts have been let by the Overseas Development Administration without an in-house bid: travel unit messagerial service and daytime security guarding of the London premises. In both cases, a 302W strategic decision was taken to contract out because outside contractors are better equipped to deliver the services.
The following services have already been identified as possible candidates for privatisation:
FCO
- Travel accounts unit
- Pensions
ODA
- Natural Resources Institute
A strategic decision has been taken not to include an in-house bid in the privatisation of the FCO's travel accounts unit, based on the relatively small size of the operation. In-house bids have not been ruled out in the other cases.