Written question asked by Marquess of Lothian (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 July 2004. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 July 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much the Foreign Office spent on (a) recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. - Inc figures and ref to FCO website and fact that some info only available at disproportionate cost.

Answer: Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Foreign Office spent on (a) recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [184503] Mr. Straw: The figures for 1996-97 could be established only at disproportionate costs. Expenditure on external consultants in general is reported annually in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Departmental Report, available in the Library of the House and on the FCO's website: www.fco.gov.uk. Expenditure specifically on management consultants is not categorised separately and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. Expenditure on consultants, the bulk of this being expenditure associated with our major Information and Communications Technology and estate construction programmes, for 2002-03 (the latest figures available) totalled £23.7 million. Out of that total the FCO spent £1.31 million on recruitment consultants.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 184503; 424 c338-9W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Consultants Expenditure Government departments Recruitment Management Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk