§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total gross running costs were to his452W Department of fees and disbursements paid to consultants (a) in the period February 1996 to January 1997 and (b) in the financial year 1996–97.[157614]
§ Ms StuartThe Department's expenditure on external management consultants in the financial year 1996–97 was £15.789 million.
The Department does not hold the 1996 data in a form that would allow us to calculate the consultancy spend over the specific period February 1996 to January 1997.