§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is her estimate of the expenditure of her(a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies on external consultants in (i) 1995–96, (ii) 1996–97, (iii) 1997–98 to date and (iv) 1997–98 full year; and if she will also estimate the cost savings resulting from the employment of such consultants for each of the above years. [26647]
758W
§ Clare ShortExternal consultants have been employed by my Department as follows:
£ million Cost of external consultants Resulting cost savings 1995–96 1.2 1.2 1996–97 0.82 0.35 1997–98 (to date) 0.94 nil 1997–98 (full year) 1.1 nil Since 1997–98, external consultants have primarily been used to assist with IT developments and training by bridging short-term skill gaps.