§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what monitoring takes place by his Department of the use of external consultants by non-departmental public bodies. [16761]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotAdvice on the use of external consultants is available to all of my Department's non-departmental public bodies, as listed in "Public Bodies", to ensure that they operate within the framework of controls set out in the Treasury and Cabinet Office guidance "Non-Departmental Public Bodies: A Guide for Departments".
My Department's non-departmental public bodies do not make significant use of external consultants, as shown in my answer to the hon. Member on 14 January 1997, Official Report, columns 233–34. In the past five years, only two of our bodies, the Oil and Pipelines Agency and the RAF Museum, have spent money on services of this sort. In the case of the Oil and Pipelines Agency, there is a requirement for prior approval from my Department for all consultancy services. In the case of the service museums, different arrangements apply depending on the circumstances of the body, but there is a very close relationship between the museums and their departmental sponsoring divisions which ensures that any plans to use consultancy services should be known in advance.