HC Deb 26 April 2002 vol 384 cc468-9W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the President of the Council if he will list the functions of his Department that have been(a) market tested and (b) outsourced in each of the last five years, specifying the (i) money saving and (ii) percentage saving in each case. [42989]

Mr. Robin Cook

My Department has not market tested any of its functions.

However, it currently outsources a number of services including payroll (Chessington ADP), PCSPS pension services (Paymaster), cleaning, security, building maintenance and IT service and support all of which have been in place for longer than five years.

During 2001, the Internal Management Consultancy Branch of the Cabinet Office undertook a review of Central Services (Personnel, Finance and Accommodation). The recommendation was that all services were to be kept in-house to retain value for money and service levels to staff and management.