HC Deb 29 April 2004 vol 420 cc1213-4W
Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the(a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and its agencies. [166086]

Jacqui Smith

Central records indicate the following values for the three financial years since 2000–01:

Supplier/financial year Spend (£)
Deloitte & Touche
2001–02 6,504,084
2002–03 10,784,757
2003–04 12,105,274
Ernst & Young
2001–02 1,289,628
2002–03 1,625,512
2003–04 2,615,137
KPMG
2001–02 94,347
2002–03 236,976
2003–04 2,121,207
PricewaterhouseCooper
2001–02 3,507,357
2002–03 9,297,179
2003–04 5,776,612

The nature of these contracts included research, IT services and consultancy, market research, financial consultancy, legal services and consultancy, training and project management. Details of individual contracts can be obtained only at disproportion are cost.

I have asked the Department's Executive Agencies to reply direct to the hon. Member. Small Business Service's figures are included in the. table.

Letter from Ron Marchant to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 29 April 2004:

I am replying to this parliamentary question, tabled on 1 April 2004, concerning the nature and value of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed wit h the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01.

The Patent Office has not let contracts, consultancies or other services with the aforementioned accountancy firms during the above period.

Letter from Desmond Flynn to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 29 April 2004:

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2003/2390) asking what the (a) nature and (b) value was all contracts, consultancies and other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (IV) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and agencies.

I can confirm that The Insolvency Service has had no contracts, consultancies or other services with any of the above-named firms since 2000–01.

Letter from Dr. J. W. Llewellyn to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 29 April 2004:

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question about the nature and value of all contracts, consultancies and other services placed with Deloitte and Touche, Ernst and Young, KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers since 2000–2001.

Since 2000–01 NWML has not placed any work with the accountancy firms listed.

Letter from Claire Clancy to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 29 April 2004:

I am responding to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of the DTL.

Since 2000/01 we have had one contract with Ernst and Young for an HR review in 2003 with a total value of £27,095.94.

We have not had any contracts with Deloitte and Touche, KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Letter from Roger Heathcote to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 29 April 2004:

You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department and its agencies. I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Employment Tribunals Service.

The Employment Tribunals Service used Deloitte and Touche in 2001 to undertake a Pay and Grading Review. The cost of the review was £50,000. The project was completed in May 2001.