Latham group calls for one consultant list llist

A call for a single consultants' register has been made by Working Group 4 of the Latham Committee - it wants the register held by the Department of the Environment upgraded so that it is universally acceptable.

The proposal, published last week, would see the introduction of annual checks on consultants' competence and financial status.

Geoff Wright, director of Hammerson and chairman of the Latham working group, commented: 'We want to save consultants having to fill in loads and loads of forms. Today, every local authority and every health authority has its own list. The cry from consultants was "why not just one register?".'

The DoE's existing list contains 3,500 names of firms qualified to work on government projects - 1,500 are based in London. The list was started by the Ministry of Works in the 1950s.