§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimates he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10176]
§ Mr. StreeterThe amount spent by the Department's NDPBs during the relevant financial years was as follows:
- 1991–92: £128,843
- 1992–93: £209,794
- 1993–94: £155,947
- 1994–95: £110,650
- 1995–96: £96,659.
§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the actions his Department has taken on each of the recommendation contained in the Cabinet Office report on the Government's use of external consultants. [10177]
§ Mr. StreeterIn response to the Cabinet Office report on the use of external consultants, the Lord Chancellor's Department corporate board issued a policy statement in June 1995 designed to help ensure value for money in the employment of consultants. It set the criteria for their use, operating principles and monitoring arrangements and included a requirement for ministerial approval for contracts where the final cost could exceed £20,000 and for an annual report to the Department's corporate board on the use of consultants. It covered recommendations 1, 2 and 12 of the Cabinet Office report.
Other actions taken are as follows:
The implications of recommendations 8, 11 to 18, 22 to 25 and 26 to 31 are dealt with by way of central guidance. The Department's procurement manual will be amended to reflect these recommendations.Arrangements are in place to review the central guidance periodically and the internal assurance division has included the use of external consultants in its audit programme (recommendation 33).Expenditure on consultants is identified separately in the departmental accounts (recommendation 3).Arrangements are in place which require a business case and senior management authority for consultancy projects costing more than £10,000 (recommendation 6).There are centres of expertise in the purchasing of consultancy skills. Each centre keeps under review, in consultation with managers, the contracts typically used for the employment of consultants (recommendations 9 and 20 to 21).Although the DTI database for the use of consultants is not available, the LCD is establishing its own (recommendation 10).10WThe LCD's procurement services division submitted its first annual report to the corporate board, which was approved on 3 October 1996 (recommendation 32).Although recommendations, 5, 7, 10, 19 and 34 are supported, they are not for the LCD to implement.