[holding answer 9 December 2008]: Consultants and contractors are generally secured through a competitive procurement process. However, a procurement exercise without a competition may be justified where, for example, compatibility of expertise with existing or previous work is required or where it is known that only one supplier can meet the need.
[holding answer 11 December 2008]: Expenditure by the Department on external consultancy is not held centrally in the format requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Expenditure by non-departmental public bodies on external consultancy can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Total expenditure by the central Department and its agencies on consultants in each financial year since it was formed in May 2002 is shown in the following table:
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 DFT Central 57.2 58.5 65.2 64.0 53.6 51.0 Highways Agency 157.5 169.7 115.0 2.4 1.7 2.0 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 4.0 3.4 4.8 1.9 18.0 18.4 Driving Standards Agency 4.2 4.0 3.6 1.2 5.1 3.5 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 3.3 3.0 3.4 1.4 3.0 3.7 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 1.2 0.8 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.5 Vehicle Certification Agency 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Government Car and Despatch Agency (joined DFT from 2005-06) n/a n/a n/a 0.1 0.1 0.1 Total 227.5 239.5 193.3 72.1 82.9 80.3
The business units within the Department currently use separate accounting systems which record expenditure differently. The totals include a mixture of committed spend (ie orders raised) and actual spend incurred. The Professional Services Forum definition of consultancy has been applied since 2005-06 resulting in more accurate coding of expenditure.
Expenditure figures from 2005-06 exclude central Department and Highways Agency spend on technical transport related consultancy. Expenditure by the Highways Agency on engineering consultancy is scored as outsourced procurement of specialist services.