To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contracts have been fulfilled for his Department by KBR in the last five years; what the (a) value, (b) purpose and (c) duration was of each such contract; and where the work to fulfill the contract was performed in each case. (205260)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently have one contract with KBR, for the provision of life support services to our Embassy in Baghdad and the Contingency Operating Base in Basra, Iraq:

at award this contract was valued at £3.5 million approximately per annum. This does, however, not take account of the varying requirements for supplies of fuel and water which are in part subject to demand;

the contract provides catering, commissary, laundry, cleaning, site waste removal/vector control services, site management and related resource in addition to providing bottled and tankered water and fuel supplies; and

the contract commenced in February 2006 and ends on 26 February 2009, and is due for re-tender shortly.

All FCO contracts are subject to a rigorous selection process so that we obtain best value for money. Any company engaged by the FCO needs to pass through a stringent and transparent procurement process, in line with public procurement guidelines and best practice. The same rigorous process is followed in the contract management and performance monitoring of these contracts.