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Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the expenditure of his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on all external consultants including management consultants for each of the years (a) to date and (b) as estimated for the whole year; what estimate he has made of such expenditure for 1996-97; and if he will estimate the savings accruing to his Department from the use of consultants in each of these years. [11371]

Mr. Willetts: Information on consultancy expenditure is not held centrally and can be provided only for earlier years at disproportionate cost. The expenditure on external consultants for 1993-94, 1994-95, year to date and estimated expenditure for the whole of 1995-96 is shown as follows:

Cabinet Office (including 10 and 12 Downing street)

Office of Public Service, and agencies
1993-945,936,200
1994-955,969,000
Year to date3,272,400
1995-96 estimated total 7,276,000

A large part of these totals was consultancy to CCTA, the Government Centre for Information Systems.

HMSOCOI
1993-941,061,00066,700
1994-951,750,700162,200
Year to date827,00021,400
1995-96 estimated total(12)827,000132,400

(12) HMSO financial year: 1 January to 31 December.

Detailed estimates for 1996-97 are not currently available.

Consultants are used in a variety of activities designed to produce different types of benefits, not just cost saving.

Mr. Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is his estimate of his Department's expenditure on newspapers and magazines for 1995-96 to date; and if he will list the publications purchased. [11508]

Mr. Willetts: This information, and similar information for earlier years, can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

EU Regulations and Directives

Mr. Marlow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the EU regulations and directives which will not be enforced in the United Kingdom (a) in part and (b) as a whole. [13081]

Mr. Freeman: The Government's policy is to implement EC legislation in an effective, timely and proportionate manner. The enforcement regime adopted in each case should impose least burden on business and others affected.

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Cash and Running Cost Limits

Mr. Dicks: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on changes to the 1995-96 cash limit and running costs limit for the Office of Public Service. [13542]

Mr. Freeman: Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for the Office of Public Service, class XVIII, vote 1, will be increased by £1,636,000 from £53,713,000 to £55,349,000 and the gross running cost limit will be increased by £291,000 from £78,830,000 to £79,121,000. The changes reflect the transfers of the Security Facilities Executive Agency and the Buying Agency from the Department of the Environment--class VII, vote 8, the Office of Science and Technology being transferred to the Department of Trade and Industry and the deregulation unit and competitiveness division being transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry. Provision is also made for the privatisation of executive agencies. SAFE will have a net running cost limit of zero.

Departmental Properties

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is his estimate of the annual cost to his Department and his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies of their empty and under-used properties for (a) 1995-96 and (b) 1996-97. [11506]

Mr. Willetts: Until 1 April 1996, responsibility for Cabinet Office empty and under-used property on the common user estate falls to Property Holdings Division of DoE.

For the years in question, there has been no vacant space within Nos. 10 to 12 Downing street or the central Cabinet Office estate in London. Over this period, only HMSO had empty or under-used departmental estate. The costs were as follows:


After 1 April 1996, responsibility for Cabinet Office property on the CUE will fall to the Department. It is forecast that the estimated cost to the Cabinet Office of empty and under-used properties in 1996-97 will be £2,035,739, consisting of HMSO; Crown buildings, Basingstoke; and Leatherhead road, Chessington.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

National Lottery

Rev. William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps are being taken to eliminate the sale of nation lottery tickets to under-age children. [10581]

Mr. Sproat: The Secretary of State has, under section 11 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993, issued a direction to the Director General of the National Lottery,

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that no licence should be granted which authorises the promotion of any lottery which does not allow for sufficient controls to prevent persons who have not attained the age of 16 from participating. I have therefore asked the director general to write to the hon. Member, placing copies of his response in the Libraries of the House.

British Library

Dr. John Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list the contractors involved in the British Library project. [11989]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: According to records held by the Department of National Heritage, the following organisations and individuals are, or have previously been, directly under contract to the Department or its predecessors in respect of the British library construction project:


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Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what inquiries she has instigated into the delay to the British library project; what reports she has received from those inquiries; and what measures have been taken as a consequence. [11990]

Mrs. Bottomley: The primary cause of delay to this project has been the need to identify and specify the technical changes required to deal with problems discovered since 1991. In particular, these relate to the mobile bookshelving, the low voltage cabling, and the fire protection system. I and my predecessors have commissioned leading experts to report on the issues and we have received a number of technical reports. As a consequence, the key changes which have been made, or are in the process of being made, include the replacement of faulty components in the bookshelving, at the contractor's expense; the repair and replacement of cabling, where necessary and practicable, and the installation of automatic fuse switches to protect the cabling system; and changes to the fire protection system to reduce the likelihood of corrosion, and improve effectiveness.

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