§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by(a) his Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years. [27397]
§ Beverley HughesIn November 1999, the Treasury published a statement of Best Practice on the use of consultants within Government. This is accessible on the archive section of Office of Government Commerce's (OGC's) website (www.ogc.gov.uk). It represents a set of principles that should apply to many areas of consultancy. But it is not binding on Departments and has no status in law.
Decisions on the use of consultants is left to individual business units, but in making positive decisions units will take into account value for money considerations and whether the particular skills exist internally.
The increase in expenditure on Public Relations Consultants can be attributed to the Criminal Records Bureau and United Kingdom Passport Agency undertaking a greater degree of Public Relations work in areas such as market research and media. We do not have historical information to provide any other valid comparisons for the increase.
The available information held by the Home Department on cost for the use of external Public Relations Consultants by (a) Home Department and (b) other bodies over the last four years is as follows:
(a) Home Office £ 1998 Nil 1999 Nil 2000 32,164 2001 33,881
(b) Home Office £ 1998 Nil 1999 81,299 2000 140,150 2001 319,000