Procurement Bill [Lords]

Nick Smith Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 9th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I welcome this Bill’s aims of openness, effectiveness and transparency. A third of public expenditure—£300 billion—goes on public procurement, so we must get this right. Unfortunately, though, the Government’s record here has been undermined by the PPE scandal. I do understand that exposure to fraud was a risk during the panic of the pandemic and that the global PPE market was highly competitive. However, big mistakes were made, and billions have been wasted.

The National Audit Office has done brilliant work on tracking the Government’s covid spending. Its investigation into the management of covid contracts in March 2022 found that 46 of the 115 contracts awarded to the Government’s VIP lane did not go through the Government’s due diligence process. That meant that the Department for Health and Social Care could not fully understand the contract management risks it was exposing itself to. Therefore, the sheer scale of Government waste is not just explained by global markets pressures; the UK Government’s failures must also be acknowledged. After all, the PPE scandal has seen £4 billion of taxpayers’ money wasted on unusable equipment and now £2.6 billion-worth of disputed contracts.

I am specifically concerned about contracts awarded to Unispace Global Ltd, which won more than £600 million of PPE contracts during the pandemic. It is extremely difficult to follow the financial paper trail: a look at its manoeuvres, and the chopping and changing of its directors, raises big questions. For example, payments from the Department of Health and Social Care were made to Unispace Global Ltd, but in 2021, it transferred its contracts to a new company, Unispace Health Products LLP, which now trades as Sante Global LLP. Private Eye says, however, that the companies’ accounts do not feature anywhere near the £600 million paid to them, which begs the question: why this chicanery? Will the Bill deal with such shenanigans?

I welcome the introduction of a single central Cabinet Office online platform—that is quite a mouthful—but it should go further and include a publicly accessible dashboard for Government contracts. In that way, we can track delivery and performance, make contractors truly accountable to the people, and close the loopholes that profiteers enjoyed. The British people also deserve to know the profits, commissions, dividends and big bosses’ bonuses being made on the back of public money.

We need measures that financially penalise those who benefited from the public contractors’ PPE super-profits, but when a company changes its identity multiple times, that is made much harder, and the other route—recovering money through the courts—is very expensive and hugely time consuming. What measures will the Government bring forward to deal with those PPE profiteers and their like? We need a Bill that mandates open accounting of public contracts and shines a light on the vultures that prey on the public purse. We need a Bill that allows us to properly follow the money.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alex Burghart]

The right hon. Gentleman says that it does not, but the shadow spokeswoman, the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), said at the start that it did and praised the fact that it was creating a single rulebook. This will make it easier for our authorities to procure decent services from people who will be able to provide better value for money and will be held to account better. I am very pleased that it is this Government who are bringing it forward.

Opening up public procurement to new entrants such as small businesses and social enterprises so that they can compete for public contracts is a major part of this work, as is embedding transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised. The main benefits of the Bill have been reflected by hon. Members on both sides of the House, including my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin). By delivering better value for money, supported by greater transparency and a bespoke approach to procurement, the Bill will provide greater flexibility for buyers to design their procurement process and create more opportunities to negotiate with suppliers. As my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset said, that will drive better value for money.

As we slash red tape and drive innovation, more than 350 complicated and bureaucratic rules governing public spending in the EU will be removed. We are creating better and more sensible rules that will not only reduce costs for businesses in the public sector, but drive innovation. That will be at the heart of our work as we encourage authorities to publish pipelines that allow businesses of all sizes to prepare for contracts in new and interesting ways.

We will make it easier for people to do business with the public sector. The Bill will accelerate spending with small businesses. A new duty will require contracting authorities to consider SMEs, and will ensure that 30-day payment terms are made on a broader range of contracts.

We also intend to take tough action on underperforming suppliers. The Bill will put in place a new exclusions framework that will make it easier to exclude suppliers who have underperformed on other contracts. As has been mentioned a number of times, it will also create a new debarment register—accessible to all public sector organisations—that will list suppliers who must or may be excluded from contracts.

A number of hon. Members on both sides of the House have referred to the excellent work that has been done on the ProZorro service in Ukraine. I am pleased to be able to let the House know that Ukraine was on our advisory panel and has actually informed our work, and our single digital platform takes a lot from what Ukraine has done with ProZorro. The platform will enable everyone to have better access to public procurement data. Citizens will be able to scrutinise spending decisions, suppliers will be able to identify new opportunities to bid and collaborate, and buyers will be able to analyse the market and benchmark their performance against others on spending with SMEs, for example—better transparency; better for taxpayers.

[Nick Smith]

Will the Minister please tell us when his single digital platform will be ready for use by industry across our country?

[Alex Burghart]

The platform is based on a system that we already have. We are confident that we will be able to introduce it in line with bringing this Bill into force. Obviously, we have to pass the legislation and get Royal Assent, and then there will be a settling-in period. But it is going to be functional very soon.

We are also strengthening exclusion grounds. The Bill toughens the rules to combat modern slavery by allowing suppliers to be excluded when there is evidence of that, accepting that in some jurisdictions it is unlikely that a supplier would ever face conviction. My hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) made some important points on that score. It is absolutely right that we should be able to debar suppliers who have engaged in such dastardly crimes. It is too soon, however, to say exactly which suppliers are going to be debarred, but he has read the legislation and can see what the potential is. We will consider suppliers according to a prioritisation policy. Once on the list, suppliers will stay on it for up to five years unless they can show that they no longer pose a risk—these are the self-cleaning clauses. Any contracts awarded during an investigation can be terminated if the supplier is debarred. Safeguards are built into the grounds to stop suppliers from renaming themselves. I am happy to talk about those.

COP27

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. That is the type of leadership and contribution that Britain can make to solving the problem globally. We are fortunate to have some of the world’s best researchers and companies tackling this problem. On Monday, I was pleased to announce about half a dozen investment opportunities in Kenya, which do exactly what he describes: British expertise helping a country with its transition in areas such as solar and geothermal. That is an exciting template for the future.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Why is the Prime Minister banning onshore wind, the best renewable energy?

[The Prime Minister]

We are providing four times as much renewable electricity today as we did in 2010. We have plans to go even further as we roll out offshore wind, which is a competitive strength for the UK. We will complement that energy mix with new nuclear, a source of energy that we all recognise we need, but for which the previous Labour Government said there was no economic case at all.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Nick Smith Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and on behalf of my constituents, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the royal family.

When I heard the sad news, my first thought was that we, the British people, had lost our pre-eminent public servant. Her late Majesty once said:

“I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

Queen Elizabeth dedicated her life to the greater good, and wove together the ties that bind us.

In 2012 the Queen visited Ebbw Vale. It was one of those days in our valleys when the skies empty gallons, but still she saw through the programme. Her late Majesty knew that meeting our community leaders, hearing our choirs, collecting flowers from children—being with us—mattered. She showered good will on the people of Blaenau Gwent as the water rained down on all of us.

In the days that followed, the Queen also visited Aberfan. She was due to open a new school in the village that had been struck by grief just 46 years earlier. On reflection, I now realise that she was the constant. She was there when tragedy struck, standing alongside us when our nation mourned, but she was also there to usher in the new beginnings.

As I look to the future and think of His Majesty King Charles III, I recall his visit, as Prince of Wales, to Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, the hospital named after my predecessor who established our national health service. Although it was very carefully done, there was a nod to the political genius who established yet another great institution of our country. The Prince wore a blue cornflower in his buttonhole—it was a classy look. He clearly knew of our great valleys and their history. I have no doubt that he will continue the legacy of his beloved mother, the late Queen.

Finally, I warmly welcome the naming of the new Prince and Princess of Wales. Though I mourn our longest-reigning monarch, I now say, God save the King.

Functioning of Government

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

I say to the hon. Lady, as I have said before, that the legislative business of this House is a matter for the Leader of the House of Commons, who holds a Cabinet position and is in place. He is shortly to have his weekly question-and-answer session in this House, and she will be able to take advantage of that.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has brought his office into disrepute. Our country should not have to put up with it any longer. Will the Prime Minister be leaving No. 10 this weekend?

[Michael Ellis]

The hon. Member will need to wait for the Prime Minister’s statement later today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member and I can tell him that what we are doing right now is helping 8 million households across the country with £1,200 of support, £300 for pensioners who are in receipt of the cold weather payment, plus £400 for every household in the country. That is the support we are giving right now to help people with the cost of energy. The only reason we can do it, as I have said before to the House, is because of the strength of the economy and the brave, tough calls we got right during the pandemic.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Member has been here long enough to know that points of order come after statements. We do not need to tell him the rules of the House.

Sue Gray Report

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I refer the hon. Lady to what I have already said.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister’s credibility is like a tyre with a slow puncture. He reinflates it occasionally, but is it not the truth that his party needs a new front wheel?

[The Prime Minister]

I think Opposition Members really need to ask a new question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My right hon. and learned Friend makes an incredibly important point. The savagery that the Russians are unleashing on Ukraine knows no limits and is clearly authorised from the very top. He asks what more we can do. What we need to do is make it clear to serving officers in the Russian forces that if we can proceed with the international criminal prosecutions that we want to see, they will eventually face justice in the way that those who participated in massacres in Bosnia faced justice in the past. I hope that that will have a chilling effect on their current appalling conduct.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Q9. Every week, examples emerge of Government waste during covid, and last year the former Health Secretary told me that there had been no profiteering and no cronyism. Does the Prime Minister still agree with him?

[The Prime Minister]

I am sad to say that I think a lot of people made money out of covid in a way that perhaps they should not have done. We deplore that and we are trying to recoup as much as we possibly can, but I remind the hon. Gentleman of the constant clamour from the Opposition and from the country for us to equip our country with PPE and medicines as fast as possible, and that we did.

Easter Recess: Government Update

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Lady very much for her kind invitation. I do not know whether Margot herself wants to extend the invitation, but I am afraid I will be busy doing what we are doing: getting on with delivering the priorities of the British people.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Lord Denning said, “No matter how high you are, the law is above you.” Isn’t it time to go, Prime Minister?

[The Prime Minister]

I agree very much with Lord Denning, and that is why I apologise in the way that I do.

Ukraine

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

There are all sorts of reasons for the failure of the west to take sufficient account of the threat of Vladimir Putin since 2014, but the two biggest are oil and gas.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

With cyber-attacks and falsehoods, Russia is peddling lies today. Observers on the ground are crucial to relaying the truth. In recent weeks, the UK has withdrawn its team from the OSCE special monitoring mission because staff safety is key, but can the Prime Minister look again to support international efforts such as that to get to the facts and counter Russian disinformation?

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the monitoring mission teams. They are wonderful. I have met them and they do a fantastic job. I am sorry that they have had to be withdrawn, for the duty of care reasons that the hon. Gentleman rightly alludes to. We will keep that under constant review.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I look forward to my trip to Worthing and I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s invitation. He is absolutely right; this comes from the de-bureaucratisation—if that in itself is not a bureaucratic word—of the system, because it makes it easier for small companies to apply. The thing to remember is that large companies have departments that fill out tender documents, but small companies do not. We need to simplify the tender documents to bring the small companies in.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Over a year ago, at the Public Accounts Committee, I discovered that there were 10,000 shipping containers filled with millions of items of personal protective equipment costing billions of pounds, and I am afraid of waste. A few months later, I heard that there were 14,000 shipping containers full of unused PPE. I have put in a parliamentary question for an update, but so far it remains unanswered. Can the Minister please give us an update on how many shipping containers are still full of PPE this month?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

That is a matter for the Department of Health, but I would defend the procurement of PPE because we needed PPE urgently, as we needed a vaccine urgently. We have heard constant criticism from the Opposition of something that had to be done urgently and had to break through the slowness of normal procurement timescales. Normal procurement takes three to six months, but we needed PPE tomorrow so we had to act urgently, as we did.