§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department 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. [29414]
Mr. John M. TaylorAs well as the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Lord Chancellor has responsibility for four agencies: HM Land Registry, the Public Trust Office, the Court Service and the Public Record Office. The Lord Chancellor's Department, HM Land Registry, the Public Trust Office and the Court Service have not privatised or contracted out any activities without an in-house bid and neither the Lord Chancellor's Department nor any of these agencies has any plans so to do. The chief executive of the Public Record Office will be sending a separate reply.
Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Kevin McNamara, dated 26 June 1995:
I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question about privatisation without in-house bids.The Public Record Office's van and office cleaning services were contracted out without in-house bids. A strategic decision was made to contract out these services as they were peripheral to the main functions of the Public Record Office, the van service was a small service and the private sector was better-equipped to provide a cleaning service.The Public Record Office's general office copying service is due to be contracted out. This is a small service peripheral to the main functions of the Public Record Office.