Capita (Hansard, 8 May 2003)

§ Ruth Kelly

It has been drawn to my attention that there were errors in my earlier answers about Capita of 13 March 2002,Official Report, column 1113W, and 15 January 2003, Official Report, column 662W. I apologise for this earlier inaccuracy, which I very much regret.

The following information is given separately in respect of each of the Chancellor's Departments.

HM Treasury

In my earlier answers I stated that the Treasury had placed work with Capita under a single framework agreement for external recruitment with no defined value. At that time, no such framework agreement was in place: service orders were therefore being placed individually at a total cost of £170,847 (excluding VAT) in 2001–02. Spending during 2002–03 was £279,697 (excluding VAT). Details of the seventeen orders during this period are given in the following table. For reasons of commercial confidentiality it is not possible to list individual contract values. Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies, ((a) and (b)).

Delivery is assessed through internal mechanisms for review of the staff recruited. No penalty clauses or service level agreements were put in place: service requirements were specified for each piece of work, ((c) and (d)).

791W

Title of post	Start date	Completion date
HR consultant	27 May 2002	27 June 2002
Customer Relations Manager	6 March 2002	12 April 2002
Customer Relations Advisor	11 July 2002	2 August 2002
Accounting Policies Manager and Accountancy Advisor	7 May 2002	7 June 2002
Head of information services	25 July 2002	9 September 2002
HR Team Leader and HR Diversity Officer	26 November 2002	10 January 2003
Quality Manager	17 June 2002	19 July 2002
Head of Learning, Skills and Development	9 January 2003	3 February 2003
Development Consultant	16 January 2003	28 February 2003
Gold System Manager	22 January 2003	13 February 2003
Website Editor	22 January 2003	14 February 2003
Project and Programme Managers and Knowledge Manager	29 January 2003	28 February 2003
PA to Managing Director	3 February 2003	28 February 2003
Senior Programmer/Analyst	24 February 2003	21 March 2003
Policy Analysts	26 February 2003	4 April 2003
Senior Policy Analyst	28 March 2003	25 April 2003
Second Permanent Secretary— Managing Director, Budget and Public Finances and Head of Government Economies Services	16 April 2003	20 May 2003

Inland Revenue (IR)

IR has two competitively procured management consultancy framework arrangements with Capita. One starts on the 1 April 2002 and runs until 30 September 2003. The other runs from 1 September 2002 until 29 February 2004. Neither contract has yet been used by IR. Accordingly, no IR contract values are associated with these arrangements, ((a) and (b)).

Evaluation criteria will be drawn up for each requirement under the framework, (c).

Neither penalty clauses or Service Level Agreements are associated with these frameworks. The requirement will be stated in the order/contract for each piece of work and the supplier will be judged on their ability to meet that requirement, (d).

H.M. Customs and Excise HMCE

Within the following broad headings, during 2002–03, HMCE have awarded the following work to Capita under one of IR's management consultancy framework agreements. The start and finish dates for the individual contracts could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Maximum return on Investment Training
Membership Subscription
Promoting Flexible Working Practices
Managing Change Training
e-Learning Training
Leadership Training
GORS Selection Interview Training
Training Administration Introduction
NLP Training
IT Tests
Talent Spotting
Professional Skills for SEC
Business Writing
Taking Responsibility Training
Civil Service Reform Training
AA/A0 Assessment Tests
Training Evaluation
Legal Trainees
Fast Stream Recruitment
Advanced Assertiveness for Managers Training
Complaints Training
Leadership Training
Positive Image Training
Assistant Print Buyer
Access to Personal Information Training
Time Management Training
Data Protection Training
Belfast Building Work
Diagnostic Internal Communications Manager
Feedback
RAS Helpline
Thinking on your feet
GLS Lawyers Recruitment
Human Resources Manager
Communication Training
Internal Communications Manager
Effective Middle Management
Human Resources
Customer Contact Centre Advisor
Instant Recruitment—EO
In House Training (Feedback Skills)
Selection Test
Interviewing: The Selection Techniques
In house training (Coaching)
Diversity in the Civil Service

For reasons of commercial confidentiality, it is not possible to list individual contract values. Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies. In total, the value for the services listed is £238,097 (excluding VAT), ((a) and (b)).

Evaluation criteria were drawn up for each requirement under the Framework. The information required under detailed analyses (c) could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Office of Government Commerce OGC

To clarify my earlier answers, Capita Property Consultancy and two other consultancy companies were appointed to provide property related advice and services under the terms of a competitively tendered framework agreement from 16 August 2001 to 15 August 2004, with the option to extend for a further two years. At time of posting the tender notice in the 793W Official Journal of the European Community, the estimated total cost of the agreement was £200,000 per annum. However, no spend has yet been made through the framework, ((a) and (b)).

The evaluation mechanism for successful delivery is covered by OGC buying. solutions customer care programme that comprises customer feedback on overall quality of service provider (understanding of requirement, speed of response, quality of administration and timescales met), (c).

Penalty clauses do not form part of the terms and conditions of the framework agreement, (d.)

In addition, during 2001–02, the OGC placed individual service orders with Capita to the value of £159,170 (excluding VAT). And during 2002–03, OGC used one Capita consultant under a contract. The contract with Capita was concluded in May 2002 when the consultant was subsequently employed by OGC on a fixed term contract. The total sum paid to Capita over the 2002–03 period was £46, 519 (excluding VAT), ((a) and (b)).

Neither penalty clauses or a Service Level Agreement were appropriate for this contract, (c.)

Nevertheless, the evaluation of the value for money for the payment was on the basis of the successful achievement of the objectives set for the programme of work to which the individual contributed, (d).