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19 Oct 2004 : Column 560W—continued

Organophosphate Victims

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish the report of the epidemiological study of organophosphate victims by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine commissioned by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [191318]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 18 October 2004]: The hon. Member for North Cornwall is aware that the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was contracted to carry out this study and to submit its draft final report for this work in August 2003. As described in my answer to the hon. Member's previous question, given on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 124W, we received a preliminary draft report of the findings from this study on 13 July 2004. As is usual before publication of any scientific report, this was submitted to a panel of independent experts for peer review.

Comments received from this panel were forwarded to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on 21 September 2004. The LSHTM has been invited to consider and respond to the issues raised and to address them in its final report. We hope that this process will be complete by the end of October.

Once we are in receipt of this final report, and are satisfied that it adequately addresses the issues raised by the independent peer reviewers, we will publish it without delay.

Separate to the peer review process, we understand that Professor Kerry Mills from King's College Hospital has recently met with the contractors to begin his assessment of the validity of the clinical phase of the study. We will be guided by Professor Mills' advice on whether the clinical study should be fully audited before it is published. However, depending on the time scale of this process, we may need to publish the clinical study separately.

Plant and Animal Disease Diagnostics

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has evaluated on onsite polymerase chain reaction real time technology for diagnosis of animal and plant disease. [191755]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 15 October 2004]: Defra receives a considerable amount of information about developments in real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology from a variety of sources and work is continuing at the Institute for Animal Health on the development of novel assays for early, rapid and pen-side ('on-site') testing for foot and
 
19 Oct 2004 : Column 561W
 
mouth disease. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has also launched a joint venture with industry to develop the technology's wider potential to provide reliable diagnostic tests for animal diseases.

PCR is used routinely for the diagnosis of plant diseases within the laboratory and it has been further developed for use 'on-site' for the diagnosis of two plant diseases "Phytophthora ramorum" (known as Sudden Oak Death in the USA) and the recently discovered disease, "Phytophthora" taxon C. The technology is currently being evaluated in the field alongside the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) at disease outbreak sites. A large EU and Defra funded project is underway to develop the capability of the PHSI to conduct real time PCR for the detection of a range of
 
19 Oct 2004 : Column 562W
 
plant quarantine diseases at ports and points of inspection. We regard this technology as a significant tool for improving the speed and accuracy for detecting key plant diseases.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Consultancy Firms

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the top 20 consultancy firms by contract value used by the Department in each of the last five years. [190907]

Hilary Benn: The information requested is set out in the following tables:

Number	Consultant	Award value of new contracts issued during 1999–2000 (£)
1	Natural Resources International Ltd.	27,524,200
2	The British Council	23,743,248
3	HLSP Consulting Ltd. IHSD	14,074,557
4	Options Consultancy Services Ltd.	11,371,111
5	HTS Consultants	10,869,938
6	Fountain Renewable Resources Ltd.	8,743,763
7	Nicare	8,589,627
8	(Well) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London)	7,675,822
9	The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations Ltd.	7,320,040
10	Pricewaterhousecoopers	6,030,092
11	Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Company Ltd.	5,775,450
12	Newcastle University	5,742,865
13	ATOS KPMG Consulting Ltd.	5,623,726
14	CFBT Education Services (Centre for British Teachers)	5,573,801
15	WSP International Ltd.	5,168,597
16	Ernst & Young PVT Ltd.	5,108,082
17	Adam Smith International Ltd.	4,893,502
18	Helm Corporation Ltd.	4,864,982
19	ENTEC UK	4,602,693
20	KPMG	4,444,649

Number	Consultant	Award value of new contracts issued during 2000–01 (£)
1	HTS Consultants	21,897,323
2	The British Council	16,771,471
3	Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP	12,278,083
4	The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations Ltd.	7,352,493
5	WSP International Ltd.	7,085,500
6	Deloitte & Touche Emerging Markets	5,625,378
7	Landell Mills Ltd.	5,462,878
8	Oxford Policy Management Ltd.	4,286,365
9	Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS International)	4,240,868
10	GHK International Ltd.	4,198,156
11	Institute for Health Sector Development (IHSD) Ltd./HLSP	4,000,325
12	Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton	3,934,613
13	Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Company Ltd.	3,778,996
14	Enterplan International	3,688,415
15	ATOS KPMG Consulting Ltd.	3,353,547
16	(Well) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London)	3,232,404
17	Birks Sinclair and Associates	3,208,928
18	Centre for Development Studies (Wales)	3,119,713
19	Bannock Consulting	3,097,315
20	Liverpool Associates in Tropical Health Ltd.	3,084,909

 
19 Oct 2004 : Column 563W
 

Number	Consultant	Award value of new contracts issued during 2001–02 (£)
1	Population Services International	52,800,000
2	Natural Resources International Ltd.	39,857,244
3	Arcadis BMB	12,774,113
4	WSP International Ltd.	11,478,383
5	The British Council	10,198,523
6	HTS Consultants	9,298,476
7	IMC Consulting Ltd.	7,547,287
8	Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS International)	6,991,816
9	HLSP Consulting Ltd./IHSD	6,120,046
10	Environmental Resources Management	5,728,933
11	University of Edinburgh (CTVM)	5,534,000
12	University College of North Wales	5,100,000
13	Liverpool Associates in Tropical Health Ltd.	4,600,113
14	Birks Sinclair and Associates	4,444,674
15	Water Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)	4,306,960
16	Carl Bro International	3,574,483
17	WS Atkins International Ltd.	3,357,401
18	Oxford Policy Management Ltd. (OPM)	3,160,651
19	Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton	2,924,658
20	University of Stirling	2,840,000

Number	Consultant	Award value of new contracts issued during 2002–03 (£)
1	ATOS KPMG Consulting Ltd.	35,535,185
2	The British Council	19,903,242
3	HTS Consultants	16,069,402
4	HLSP Consulting Ltd./IHSD	15,588,359
5	Charles Kendall & Partners Ltd.	12,979,117
6	Maxwell Stamp plc	12,308,085
7	Deloitte & Touche South Africa	9,683,316
8	Enterplan International	8,795,163
9	Adam Smith International Ltd.	7,724,264
10	Pricewaterhousecoopers	7,670,068
11	The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations Ltd.	7,539,558
12	Oxford Policy Management Ltd.	7,522,799
13	John Snow International (JSI) Research and Training (UK)	5,714,909
14	Nicare	5,454,180
15	Population Services International	5,035,208
16	SNC Lavalin International Inc	3,630,824
17	Birks Sinclair and Associates	3,351,740
18	PMTC International	3,340,733
19	Emerging Market Economics Ltd.	3,028,109
20	Fountain Renewable Resources Ltd.	2,817,910

Number	Consultant	Award value of new contracts issued during 2003–04 (£)
1	Maxwell Stamp plc	49,719,072
2	WSP International Ltd.	14,465,029
3	Futures Group Europe Ltd.	13,870,550
4	Deloitte & Touche South Africa	13,100,000
5	The British Council	12,293,273
6	Oxford Policy Management Ltd. (OPM)	11,130,562
7	IHSD Ltd./HLSP	10,659,795
8	Cambridge Education Consultants	9,269,620
9	ATOS KPMG Consulting Ltd.	9,093,262
10	Options Consultancy Services Ltd.	6,972,137
11	Pricewaterhousecoopers	3,343,781
12	KPMG Consulting Private Ltd. (India)	3,098,409
13	The Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations Ltd.	3,073,021
14	Cardiff and Vale Enterprise International	2,700,000
15	International Alert	2,611,896
16	Adam Smith International Ltd.	2,585,570
17	Enterprise plc	2,495,570
18	Roughton International	2,359,986
19	Arcadis BMB	2,284,511
20	GRM International Ltd.	2,073,360

 
19 Oct 2004 : Column 565W
 

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