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HOME DEPARTMENT

Lord Carlile

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Charles Clarke): Lord Carlile of Berriew QC has agreed to perform the role of independent reviewer of the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

I am grateful to Lord Carlile for accepting this invitation, and for his continuing work as reviewer of the Terrorism Act 2000.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

North West Regional Development Agency

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt): I have decided to reappoint Bryan Gray as the chair of North West regional development agency, for a second term.

The appointment will begin on 1 April 2005 and will expire in 13 December 2008. I have placed further details of this appointment in the Libraries of both Houses.

The appointment was made in accordance with the code of practice of the commissioner for public appointments.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Medical Services

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Maria Eagle): Today the Department for Work and Pensions announces the outcome of the retendering exercise for the provision of medical services.
 
18 Mar 2005 : Column 36WS
 

The current contract for provision of service expires on 31 August 2005 with the replacement contract beginning 1 September.

A contract notice was dispatched to the Official Journal of the European Union (ref 2003/S 182–164829) on 11 September 2003. The procurement was conducted in accordance with negotiated procedure under the European Community Services Directive Article 11 (2) (b) and (c), as implemented in the United Kingdom by the Public Services Contracts regulations 1993, regulation 10 (2) (b) and (c) (the "regulations").

Three service providers were short-listed:

Throughout 2004, all three short-listed providers were afforded extensive due diligence and equal opportunity to develop innovative solutions for an improved service.

Following a comprehensive evaluation of bids, which balanced proposed operational solutions against value for money considerations, the replacement contract has been awarded to Atos Origin.

The contract duration is for 10 years with an option to break at year seven in the event of unsatisfactory performance by the contractor. The overall contract value is approximately £666 million over 10 years (net present value).

Under the terms of the replacement contract a number of service improvements have been secured including: faster turnaround times for medical assessments; improved quality of information to decision makers; proposals to recruit and retain additional medical resources—including use of appropriate health care professionals; and improvements for customer contact.

An experienced contract management team is in place who will work collaboratively with Atos Origin to secure improvements and service delivery for customers.