§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the Invest NI contracts awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers, giving the value of each(a) in 2002–03 and:(b) to date 2003–04. [121530]
§ Mr. PearsonThe following table lists those consultancy contracts which have been awarded by Invest NI during the years 2002–03 and to date in 2003–04.
338W
£ Value of contract Description of contract 2002–03 To date 2003–04 Development of operating guidelines 49,000 Review of support for trade exhibitions 26,790 Economic appraisal 44,000 Recruitment exercises for staff for Invest NI 37,308 Recruitment exercises for staff for Invest NI 34,260 Review of Invest NI recruitment and selection process 25,000 Lead advisors for the Invest NI HQ project1 446,500 Consultancy fees for review of NI egg industry 8,695 Advice on company business plan 5,875 Furniture sector review 22,038 Economic appraisal 17,413 Scoping exercise for internal customer relations management project 36,500 1 A number of sub contractors will be paid fees from this total amount.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of Invest NI's accountancy and consultancy contracts have been awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers(a) in 2002–03 and (b) to date in 2003–04. [121531]
§ Mr. PearsonThe percentage of Invest NI's total accountancy and consultancy contracts awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers during the year 2002–03 was 6 per cent, in terms of number of contracts and 20.5 per cent, in terms of value. To date in 2003–04 the percentage in terms of numbers is 7.3 per cent, and 10.6 per cent, in value terms.