§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Attorney-General what are his latest estimates of the expenditure on all external consultants, including management consultants, for each year since 1992, in 1996 prices, for his Department and its agencies; and what are the quantified annual cost savings which such expenditure has resulted in. [41176]
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe latest estimates of expenditure on external consultants for the departments and agencies for which I am responsible are set out in the table in 1996 prices. The legal secretariat to the Law Officers has not incurred any such expenditure. External consultants were engaged primarily to advise on matters of management or to develop new systems and, while their advice is considered to have contributed very significantly to efficiency, it is not possible to quantify the annual cost savings attributable to this expenditure.
£ thousand Department 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 Crown Prosecution Service 713 722 719 696 Serious Fraud Office 123 159 373 278 Treasury Solicitor's Department 367 456 131 148 Government Property Lawyers Agency - 7 21 17