To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what consultancy contracts his Department issued in each year since 2005; what the (a) value, (b) purpose and (c) contractor was in each case; and whether the consultant's report is publicly available in each case. (181882)

DFID's website:

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/procurement/contractslet.asp

provides the requested information on consultancy contracts awarded during the period January 2005 to November 2007. This does not include low-value contracts issued by DFID’s overseas offices. To produce a separate list of these would incur a disproportionate cost.

Due to the development nature of DFID projects, the related contracts tend to be longer term in duration with a range of reports being produced by the consultant at key review points of the project. These reports are normally available to the public on request, but may be subject to legitimate restrictions to take account of the requirements of the Data Protection Act, exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act and contractual terms and conditions in relation to intellectual property rights.