§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many contracts for goods or services have been awarded in each of the last three financial years by 367W his Department and its executive agencies after competitive tendering; and what was the total combined value of these contracts. [21042]
Mr. John M. TaylorInformation relating to contracts is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The chief executives of the Department's existing executive agencies have been asked to respond separately.
Data in respect of the former National Physical Laboratory, National Engineering Laboratory and Warren Spring Laboratory executive agencies are no longer readily available.
Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about contracts awarded in the last three financial years after competitive tendering.Nearly all our major purchases of laboratory equipment are the subject of competitive tendering, but information on their number and value is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. This Agency has awarded two contracts for services after competitive tendering since 1993; one in 1994/95 and one in 1995/96. The combined annual value of these contracts is £20,655Letter from Adrian Wilson to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Chief Executive to Mr. Donohoe's parliamentary question to The President of the Board of Trade with regard to how many contracts for goods and services have been awarded in each of the last three financial years after competitive tendering and what was the total combined value of these contracts.LGC purchasing policy is to obtain formal tenders for all purchases in excess of £20k. To respond to the PQ, the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Letter from David Durham to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996:
The President of the Board of Trade, the Rt Hon Ian Lang has asked me to reply to your question about contracts awarded for goods and services following competitive tendering by Companies House Executive Agency during the last 3 financial years.The information you sought is as follows:Companies House adheres to the guidelines stated in the DTI Procurement Manual and observes EC Directives and UK Regulations governing public sector procurement. In practice this means that in most cases, purchases below £250 are obtained via a single quotation, a minimum of 3 quotations are obtained for purchases between £250 and £10k, and above this level full competitive tendering is undertaken.The table below give the information requested in respect of contracts above £10k awarded during financial year 1994/95 and 1995/96 to date. Information for earlier years and below £10k can only be provided at disproportionate cost.368W
Financial year 1994–95 Financial year 1995–96 Number of contracts awarded 19 30 Total value (£ million) 7.2 1.8
A number of contracts awarded are for a 3 year period, and in such cases the estimated value over 3 years is included in the year of award.I should also explain that the figure for 1994/95 is dominated by a single exceptionally large item, namely repairs to concrete cancer in the Companies House multi-storey car park. Our 1994/95 accounts disclosed a figure of £3.9 million for this work.Letter from P. R. S. Hartnack to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996:
I am replying in relation to the Patent Office to your question to the President of the Board of Trade about the number of contracts awarded over the last three years.The number of contracts for goods and services awarded after competitive tendering totalled 51 in 1993/94, 58 in 1994/5 and 70 in 1995/6 to date. The combined value of these contracts is nearly £15 million. These figures relate only to competitive contracts placed by the Patent Office and exclude purchases under established framework agreements available to us through for example the Buying Agency.Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of contracts for the supply of goods and services awarded by The Insolvency Service in the last three financial years as a result of a competitive tendering exercise, and the total combined value of these contracts.Because of the number of contracts awarded by The Insolvency Service at each of its 33 sites, this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 22 March 1996:
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the value of competitively tendering contracts. I regret that the information you request can only be provided at disproportionate cost.