To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department and its agencies have spent on consultants in each year since 1997. (286039)

It is not possible to provide figures going back to 1997 without incurring disproportionate cost owing to a change in accounting systems during the intervening period. Available information on Home Department's consultancy expenditure from 2004-05 is as follows:

This expenditure on consultancy services is associated with the high volume of major programmes currently underway across the Department to deliver new technologies and business change, providing skills not readily available within the civil service. Consultancy services are procured under strict oversight from Commercial Directorate and are negotiated and contracted in accordance with Office of Government and Commerce/National Audit Office guidelines.