§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment he has made of the risks of a conflict of interest arising in respect of his Department's permanent secretary and his relationship with Serco Ltd.; and if he will make a statement; [26699]
(2) what contracts his Department and his agencies have with Serco Ltd.; what is the current cost; when each contract ends; what are the penalties involved should he seek early termination of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [26677]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe permanent secretary has no relationship with Serco Ltd.
My Department's central contracts records show that there are about 150 current contracts with various Serco companies, including Serco Ltd. The total value is approximately £125 million. These do not include contracts placed by various defence agencies, which are the subject of separate replies from chief executives. To provide details of the values of each individual contract and to research details of the end dates could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
511WAlthough each contract will probably contain the Ministry's standard "break" condition which enables the Ministry to terminate the contract after a given period without penalty, there may be other termination provisions tailored to the circumstances of a particular contract. Again, details of these could be researched only at disproportionate cost.
I have asked the chief executives of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, the Meteorological Office and the Hydrographic Office to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from J. P. Clarke to Mr. M. Redmond, dated 30 April 1996:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Defence a Parliamentary Question relating to contracts placed by the Ministry of Defence and Defence Agencies with Serco Limited. As your question relates in part to the Hydrographic Office and such issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Hydrographic Office, I have been asked to reply to you.The Hydrographic Office currently does not have any contract with Serco Limited.I hope this information has been helpful.Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 April 1996:
The Secretary of State for Defence has asked me as Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency to reply to your question about contracts with Serco Ltd.DERA currently has about 240 contracts and enabling arrangements with Serco Ltd at a total value to £76M. All these contracts will have an early termination clause but I am afraid that it would involve disproportionate costs to check the precise terms of each and also to list the normal end date of each contract.I am sorry I could not be more helpful.Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 April 1996:
As Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office I am replying to your recent question to the Defence Secretary concerning contracts with Serco Ltd.Currently we have no such contracts.