Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether contracting authorities are regularly alerted by his Department about suppliers who have been excluded from procurement on the grounds of (a) fraud, (b) corruption and (c) other grounds under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Exclusion decisions are for individual departments. In the most serious of cases, the Cabinet Office may undertake a review of a supplier and issue guidance to departments but the decision on exclusion remains with the contracting authority.

The Procurement Bill, which is making its way through Parliament, further strengthens the rules on supplier exclusion for fraud and corruption. It will also create a new 'debarment register', accessible to all public sector organisations, which will list companies who should be excluded from contracts.

Information about exclusions relating to legal action being initiated by the Government relating to contracts to supply personal protective equipment is not held centrally.