HC Deb 25 May 1999 vol 332 cc101-2W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects the Appraisals Handbook to be completed; and what action the Department will take to distribute it. [85373]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Consultation on the Green Paper proposals ended on 31 March. We plan to publish a Performance Management Framework later this year.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will set out the tender specification for the contract to prepare the Appraisals Handbook, and the criteria used to determine the winning bid. [85374]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The tender specification for the contract to prepare the Appraisal Handbook was detailed in an advertisement in the Times Education Supplement on 6 February 1998. I am placing a copy of the advertisement and the tender specifications in Library.

Bids were assessed on the following criteria:

Contractors' capacity:to demonstrate an understanding of the policy context;to ensure outputs which would meet the Secretary of State's specification;to demonstrate that the scope of their organisation could ensure a credible outcome;to demonstrate that they had made suitable plans within the timescale to produce results;recent relevant experience in term of policy and project management.
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the contract for the Appraisals Handbook was set; who were the bidders for the contract; who won the contract; and what is the cost of the contract. [85375]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The tender specification for the contract to prepare the Appraisal Handbook was set out in an advertisement in the Times Education Supplement on 6 February 1998. There were nine bidders, whom we are not able to name under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

No bid was deemed to fully meet the tender specifications. Following further examination it was agreed to combine the best aspects of two bids. The resulting consortium consisted of Coopers and Lybrand/ Salter Baker & Associates (Education) Ltd. and Nottinghamshire LEA.

The information on the cost of the contract is commercial in confidence.