To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total expenditure by her Office on external consultants was in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and what the estimated costs are for 2006-07. (113967)

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and therefore the answer provided is for the whole of the Cabinet Office including the Prime Minister’s Office.

For details of my department’s spend on external consultants (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and the estimated costs for 2006-07, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 29 November 2006, Official Report, columns 767-68W.