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Written question asked by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 March 2010.


Buying Solutions

Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was paid by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and its agencies to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Deloitte, (d) Ernst & Young, (e) Grant Thornton, (f) BDO Stoy Hayward, (g) Baker Tilly, (h) Smith & Williamson, (i) Tenon Group, (j) PKF, (k) McKinsey and Company, and (l) Accenture, in each of the past five years forwhich information is available; how they monitor contracts with those firms; and how the department reports (1) during, and (2) at the end of contracts, to Buying Solutions.
Answer

The Department for Children Schools and Families and its predecessor department paid £16.5 million to the above-mentioned firms over the past five years. The department does not hold the requested information for its associated bodies, as they are independent and are responsible for their own data. Management and monitoring of contracts are undertaken by the individual business units supported by comprehensive contract management guidance available on the department's intranet. Information on how individual contracts are monitored is, therefore, held by the individual business unit and not collected or retained centrally. However, for central DCSF Management Consultancy Frameworks, which covered the period up to the end of March 2008, a feedback form was used to gather information on the performance of the organisation. This form was issued to individual business units at the end of each contract and requested feedback about the performance of the organisation. Organisations awarded DCSF Management Consultancy Frameworks from those listed were: (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Deloitte, (j) PKF, and (l) Accenture. Reporting to Buying Solutions during or at the end of a contract would be the responsibility of individual business units, although there is no formal requirement or process for such reporting. To gather this information would be at disproportionate cost.

Table 1 below breaks down the amounts paid to above-mentioned by year and firm
Table 1
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total
PricewaterhouseCoopers £1,336,273 £1,693,948 £1,028,387 £633,099 £2,277,400 £6,969,108
KPMG £- £- £- £636,655 £63,529 £700,184
Deloitte £- £ £- £37,431 £351,468 £388,899
Ernst & Young £111,301 £135,544 £- £- £84,387 £331,233
Grant Thornton £- £- £- £- £- £-
BDO Stoy Hayward £- £- £- £- £- £-
Baker Tilly £- £- £- £- £- £-
Smith & Williamson £- £- £- £- £- £-
Tenon Group £- £- £- £- £- £-
PKF £- £- £1,544,252 £2,878,128 £3,627,019 £8,049,399
McKinsey and Company £- £- £- £5,170 £105,750 £110,920
Accenture £- £- £- £- £- £-
Total £1,447,575 £1,829,493 £2,572,639 £4,190,483 £6,509,552 £16,549,742

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2083; 718 c34-6WA
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Contracts Consultants Expenditure Monitoring Department for Children, Schools and Families EY PwC Pannell Kerr Forster KPMG McKinsey and Company Grant Thornton Tenon BDO Stoy Hayward Buying Solutions Deloitte Accenture Smith and Williamson Baker Tilly
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk