Information on consultancies commissioned since 16 December 1994 is set out in the following table.
Where tendering procedures are used to determine the award of consultancies, it is standard practice to engage the most suitable tenderer after due consideration of a range of relevant factors, including the cost. In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate to disclose the names of the lowest tenderers for particular consultancies where a tender other than the lowest was accepted.
To establish a reservoir of expertise on environmental projects, the Department of the Environment agreed a framework for such projects with the ESRI in 1993, and relevant projects have subsequently been assigned to the Institute outside the normal tendering process. In the other cases where direct appointments were made, the type of expertise required was specialised and the value of the consultancies was small.
In addition to the information set out in the table, eight graphic design companies were engaged to prepare designs for a total of 45 Departmental publications. The average value of these contracts was small. In the main, a selective tendering procedure was used and the lowest suitable tenderer was engaged. A small number of publications were required urgently; in these cases graphic design companies were engaged directly.