§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which consultants have been consulted by the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure concerning the proposed Ulster Scots academy; on what topics they have been consulted; when; and how much each consultant has been paid to date. [HL1630]
§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)Deloitte MCS Limited was retained on 22 September 2003 to undertake a business case, in accordance with the guidance contained in HM Treasury's Green Book,Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, a copy of which is available in the Library, on the joint declaration commitment to take steps to encourage support to be made available to an Ulster Scots academy. Mr Dónal Ó Ríagaín, an independent consultant who provides advice on issues pertaining to regional or minority languages to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, was also consulted on aspects of the business case.
With regard to the costs of these consultancy services, in line with Part II Paragraph 13 (third party's commercial confidences) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it would be inappropriate to disclose this information.