HC Deb 31 July 1997 vol 299 cc607-8W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are his estimates of the expenditure on all external consultants, including management consultants, for each year since 1992, in 1997 prices, for his Department and its agencies; and what estimate he has made of the quantified annual cost savings achieved by this. [10412]

Ms Jowell

Estimates for expenditure on all external consultants for the Department of Health and its agencies, in 1997 prices, are as follows:

Year £ million
1992–93 24.194
1993–94 20.468
1994–95 21.926
1995–96 21.132
1996–971 15.789
1 Information for 1996–97 includes a figure of £2.194 million for NHS Regional Offices which were established in 1996–97.

The Department does not hold information centrally on savings which are a direct consequence of external consultants' activity.