§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list for each of his Department' agencies what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide; and what were the results. [30046]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe Lord Chancellor has responsibility for four agencies: the Court Service, HM Land Registry, the Public Record Office and the Public Trust Office. As the question concerns a specific operational matter, the chief executives of the agencies have been asked to reply direct.
Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 22 May 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about market testing.Since April 1995, the date on which the Court Service was established, no market testing has been carried out.Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 22 May 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 16 May 1996, regarding market testing carried out, the services provided and the results.The Public Trust Office market tested the typing service in 1993. The proposal made by the in-house team was successful.Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 22 May 1996:
227WI have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about the market testing of services provided by the agencies for which he is responsible.The Public Record Office has market tested the following:1. Security servicesThe contract was awarded to the in-house bid team. Savings have amounted to £275,000 p.a. on pre-test costs of £ 1.14m p.a.2. General office copyingIt was decided, as part of the market testing process, that this service should be contracted out. The tender process did not produce a bid from the private sector which would have provided running-cost savings. The service remains in-house but is likely to be considered again within a proposed facilities management market test.Additional services costing £1.79m p.a. have been subject to other efficiency techniques under the Public Record Office's Competing for Quality programmes, producing savings estimated at £174,500 p.a. for 1996–97.Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 22 May 1996:
I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning the results of market testing within HM Land Registry. I can supply the following information:
Service Result Saving (£ per annum) Inspection Surveys Retained in-house 31,500 Full surveys Outsourced 167,250 Building maintenance/Estate management Outsourced 44,000 Catering Outsourced 398,000 Records management Retained in-house 99,000 Security guarding Part outsourced Part retained in-house 29,000 Graphic Design/Printing Retained in-house 19,000 Legal services Outsourced 4,000 IT procurement/Hardware support/Training Part outsourced Part retained in-house 62,600 Local file management Retained in-house rising to 1,200,000 Local reprographics Function disbanded Machinery outsourced 422,000 Finance—payments Tender in progress — Payroll administration Tender in progress — IT services In progress — Finance—Receipts/Debts In progress — Pensions administration In progress — Transfers and removals In progress —