§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Solicitor-General what the total external spend by her Department was on private finance initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by her Department over this period; and if she will make a statement. [31031]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralMy own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, and the Treasury Solicitor's Department have not employed any private finance initiative consultants in the last four years.
The total external spend by the Crown Prosecution Service on private finance initiative consultants in each of the last calendar four years was:
£ 1998 0 1999 0 2000 408,204 2001 1,004,367 The Compass project, management for an IT service, is the only private finance initiative that CPS has undertaken and this began in January 2000. The number of full-time equivalent consultants employed was 2.05 in 2000, and 4.42 in 2001.
344WThe billed consultancy days for each year were:
Year Days 1998 0 1999 0 2000 450 2001 973 The implied average cost of each PFI consultant was £907 in 2000 and £1,032 in 2001. The Crown Prosecution Service has used seven consultancy firms on this PFI project during this period.
The CPS employed external consultants on the Compass PFI project where the necessary expertise was not available within its own resources and where best practice was to employ independent external advisers. This approach delivered an effective procurement team, with the necessary skills to deliver a successful procurement on time, on specification and on budget.
The total external spend by the Serious Fraud Office on private finance initiative consultants in each of the last four tax years was:
£ 1998–99 29,724 1999–2000 76,489 2000–01 194,650 2001–02 0 The total figure of £303,863 was spent on project management, IT, contract, procurement and legal consultancy in relation to the letting of a PFI contract for an IT document management system. Three consultancy bodies were involved, one of which was CCTA. The remaining information requested could be made available only at disproportionate cost.