§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there will be a public sector comparator in respect of the tendering for Probation Service Facilities Management Services and if the details will be published; what the estimated costs are of the procurement process in respect of the tendering of Probation Service Facilities Management Services; whether there is a better quality services review in respect of the arrangements; whether the employee status of relevant Probation Service staff would change following successful tendering of these services; and if he will make a statement. [28783]
§ Beverley HughesAlthough a public sector comparator is primarily used in Public Private Partnerships/Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI) type procurements, which Probation Services Facilities Management is not, it is planned to seek to use it to test whether any proposed contract represents good value for money. It is not planned to publish the details. The costs of the procurement process for tendering facilities management services is subsumed within the overall costs of arranging 287W facilities and estates management services for the new national service and are therefore not separately identifiable. The principles of a better quality services review are being applied as appropriate. Should services currently provided by Probation Service staff in the future be provided by other organisations the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (TUPE) would determine whether employee status would change. This would need to be assessed on an individual basis.
§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the National Probation Service will put Probation Service Facilities Management Services out to tender; when the outline business case for tendering Probation Service Facilities Management Services was published; when the final business case for the tendering of Probation Facilities Management Services will be published; if he will place a copy in the Library; whether the notice for tendering Probation Facilities Management Services was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union; and if he will make a statement. [28782]
§ Beverley HughesIt is planned to put out to tender the National Probation Service's (NPS) facilities management functions in a phased manner between January 2002 and August 2002. The outline business case for the management of NPS property, which incorporated facilities management, has not been published and it is not normal practice to publish business cases or make them widely available during a procurement process. A notice for facilities management services was despatched on 27 November 2001 for placing in the Official Journal of the European Union.