§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the expenditure of his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on all external consultants including management consultants for each of the years(a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95 and (f) 1995–96 (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole year; what estimate he has made of such expenditure for 1996–97; and if he will estimate the savings accruing to his Department from the use of consultants in each of these years. [11399]
§ Sir John Wheeler[holding answer 25 January 1996]: The information in respect of the Northern Ireland Office, Northern Ireland Departments and agencies is listed.
- 1979–80: not available
- 1989–90: £12,996,000
- 1991–92: £25,239,000
- 1993–94: £30,382,000
- 1994–95: £26,388,000
- 1995–96: £ll,190,0001,2
- 1995–96: £17,911,0002,3
- 1996–97: £16,058,000.4
1To date.
2Excludes DED who could only provide information for these years at disproportionate cost.
3Yearly estimate.
4Excludes DED, DHSS and DENI as estimates for such expenditure has not yet been made.
Information on non-departmental public bodies could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
As consultants are, in many instances, engaged to contribute particular skills to an element of a much larger process it is not possible to quantify savings which such expenditure has resulted in, but in each instance consultants were engaged on the basis of best value for money.