Vol. 473 No. 2
90 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Justice the estimated cost of origination, printing, editing and publication of the Statement of Strategy for the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds; whether outside consultants were used in the preparation of the document; if the matter was put to tender; and if she will make a statement on the implications, if any, for the Exchequer of the publication of the document. [24825/96]
All Departments and offices are required, as part of the Government's Strategic Management Initiative, Delivering Better Government, to publish a statement of strategy. In compliance with this policy, the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds prepared a statement of strategy, which was launched by me on 6 December 1996 before the management and staff of both the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds.
The total cost of origination, printing, editing and publication of the statement of strategy for the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds was £23,157. The printing of the strategy document was arranged by the Government Supplies Agency on behalf of the registries and I understand that the printing was put to tender in accordance with the agency's standard procedures. Total costs for printing 10,000 copies of the booklet were £12,981, including the Government Supplies Agency fee.
As the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds have no in-house professional publication specialists, it was decided to engage consultants to assist in the review and design of the strategy document for publication. The script was drafted entirely within the registries, however, the layout and editorial advice were provided by the consultants. As Price Waterhouse had undertaken extensive reviews of the registries both in the financial area and in the organisation area, including information technology, and had acted as facilitators in the drafting of the strategic plan for the registries, it was felt that they were in a unique position to provide the expertise required. Consequently, it was decided, with the sanction of the Department of Finance, to engage Price Waterhouse for the consultancy on a negotiated basis. The total cost of the design and review consultancy was £10,176. Of this sum, £1,865 was for the film separations required for printing, £385 was the rental cost of transparencies from Bord Fáilte and £870 was the cost of photography and scanning of transparencies.
