Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much and what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

A comprehensive answer cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost as the Department does not maintain a single register of all contracted out services. However, the Department does routinely publish details of the ‘Outsourced Programme Managed Services' in its annual resource accounts. These are contracts the Department has placed to manage the delivery of programmes and work to support the Department's objectives.

The figures over the financial years in question along with the total programme expenditure for the core Department are as follows:

F/Yr OutsourcedService Costs Total Programme Expenditure

2013/14 £23.0m £23,566m

2012/13 £34.9m £21,077m

2011/12 £10.2m £22,373m

2010/11 £29.9m £25,734m

2009/10 £69.2m £24,610m

Note: the total programme expenditure reflects non-administration costs, including payment of grant-in-aid, grants and other disbursements in support of policy initiatives.