Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the cost of Deloitte's input to written answers for his Department are included in the calculation of the total cost of producing those written answers.

The Department entered into a contract with Deloitte for the provision of a range of management consultancy services to support the National Testing Programme. The contract included a general clause providing for Deloitte to provide support in responding to Written Questions, Freedom of Information requests and media queries. While Deloitte consultants have on occasions provided support, they have not been directly responsible for drafting replies to any Written Questions. The Department has not made an estimate of these costs.