§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list(a) the consultants, (b) the tasks for which they were employed and (c) the payments made to them from his Department's budget in (i) 1992–93 and (ii) 1993–94.
§ Mr. FreemanIn addition to those placed by the central contracts branches, consultancy contracts may be placed as part of a larger project and by individual budget holders where the overall value of the contract is low. Such contracts are placed under delegated contractual authority without reference to the central contracts branches and so cannot be identified centrally.
In view of this and the fact that the Department's central contracts branches have placed in excess of 500 contracts with consultants in each of the last few years, an answer to the hon. Gentleman's question could only be provided at disproportionate cost and effort.