HC Deb 15 February 2000 vol 344 cc510-3W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list, for the financial year 1998–99, the number and total value of contracts let by his Department with external consultants and advisers that have (a) been put out to competitive tender, (b) not been put out to competitive tender and (c) been let on a non-commercial basis, stating in each case the names of the individuals or organisations that have carried out the work. [109062]

Dr. Howells

[holding answer 8 February 1999]: In respect of the value of contracts in 1998–99, I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bath on 10 November 1999, Official Report, columns 722–24W. The number of contracts let centrally to external consultants and advisers, as defined in the 1994 Efficiency Scrutiny into the Government's use of external consultants, was 19. Eighteen of these were let following competitive tendering exercises. One was let by single tender action. All 19 contracts were let on a commercial basis. The organisations concerned were:

  • GHK Economics and Management Ltd;
  • ECOTEC Research and Consulting;
  • Risk and Policy Analysts Ltd;
  • Public and Corporate Economic Consultants;
  • Casson and Crispe Consultants;
  • Meitra Martech Ltd;
  • Paras Ltd;
  • Segal Quince Wicksteed Ltd;
  • Roto Conseil Ltd:
  • Nottingham University;
  • Roger Tym and Partners;
  • KPMG Management Consultants;
  • Strategem Ltd;
  • David Rigby Associates;
  • Ove Arup and Partners;
  • University of Sussex;
  • The Harris Research Centre.

The above information does not include contracts let by the Department's Executive Agencies. I have asked the respective Chief Executives to reply separately to this question.

Letter from David Hendon to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency to your Parliamentary Question about contracts let to external consultants and advisors. 2. The tender route followed for each of the four contracts let by the Agency in FY 98/99 is as follows: Competitive Tender Quotient Communications Ltd. Single Tender

  • The Smith Group Ltd.
  • Barclay Associates Ltd.
  • Quotient Communications Ltd.
3. The total value (ex-VAT) of the contracts was £330,800. No Agency contracts were let on a non-commercial basis.

Letter from J. S. Holden to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: I have been asked to reply to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in respect of Companies House Executive Agency. Companies House expenditure on external consultants and advisors for 1998–99 was £2.6M. The major part of this atypically high outlay was for IT supplier companies, substantially to secure Millennium readiness for IT systems. Within the classes requested, expenditure was:

  1. (a) £1.8M
  2. (b) £0.8M
  3. (c) Zero
Apart from the individual contractor company (IBM) mentioned in (b) there was a large number of contractors involved. The number and names have not been provided because of disproportionate cost.

Letter from Desmond Flynn to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: In Peter Joyce's absence from the office the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about competitive tendering for external consultancy contracts by the Insolvency Service. In 1998/99 the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, spent £5,000 on a single external consultancy contract, awarded after a competitive tendering exercise.

Letter from Ian Jones to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: You tabled a Parliamentary Question on 4 February to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry about the number and total value of contracts let by his Department with external consultants and advisors, I have been asked to reply in respect of the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) which is an executive agency of the DTI. ETS let the following contracts with consultants in 1998/9: Yale Consulting—to assist in the development of an IS/IT strategy for the ETS, a scoping study for a Web Site at the Employment Appeal Tribunal and work on the Service's IT security policy. Total value: £60,881 Cap-Gemini Ltd—scoping and initial design of an e-mail migration project, and a Year 2000 audit of IT systems. Total value: £31,089 Drivers Jonas Ltd—Year 2000 audit of ETS embedded systems. Total value: £1,175 Central Computer Telecommunications Agency—to conduct an IS/IT scoping study. Total value: £15,792 Mr D Bower—to advise ETS on the development of customer service arrangements with a view to an application for Chartermark. Total value: £3,924 All contracts were either tendered or let under pre-tendered call-off arrangements.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about the amount spent on external consultants and advisors in 1998/99. In response to a similar question in November 1999 (98/3127), NWML reported that the spend on consultants and advisors in 1998/99 had been £3,800. This figure was wrong, it should have been £68,862.87. This revised figure was made up of three contracts one of which went to competitive tender and two others that were each below the threshold for competitive tender. The three organisations in question were:— National Engineering Laboratory

  • Parity Resources
  • ICL.

Letter from Alison Brimelow to Mr. Don Foster, dated 15 February 2000: I am replying to your parliamentary question tabled 4 February 2000 regarding the number and total value of contracts let for the financial year 1998/99 with external consultants and advisors that have (a) been put out to competitive tender, (b) not been put out to competitive tender and (c) been let on a non-commercial basis. The Patent Office has, under (b) above awarded one contract, to the value of £8k to Mtic Ltd. No contracts were let under categories (a) or (c).

Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the(a) number and (b) value of contracts let by his Department since May 1997 to external consultants and advisers for the management of competitive tendering processes. [109301]

Dr. Howells

Information on this type of contract is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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