Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to commission a review into the benefit of adopting the recommendations on government procurement made in The Efficiency Review by Sir Philip Green, published in 2010.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
We have implemented the key recommendations on public sector procurement made by the Efficiency Review in 2010. There are no current plans to review these recommendations.
However, best practice guidance for public sector procurement is regularly published as procurement policy notes on GOV.UK at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/procurement-policy-notes
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 1 February (HL5031), whether they will now answer the question asked, namely who were the Crown Representatives named for Carillion; what was their period of service; and what was their previous relevant experience.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Julie Scattergood was the Crown Representative for Carillion from April 2014 to August 2017.
We do not publish officials’ CVs. However, we believe she had the necessary qualifications for the appointment.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 15 January (HL Deb, col 471), whether the joint and several liability that applies to all parties to the six joint venture contracts they let to groups in which Carillion was a shareholder will transition all of Carillion's obligations and liabilities to other joint venture partners without further cost or negative consequence; whether the stress testing of financial capacity of contractors to take on additional government work included an assessment of joint and several underwriting; and whether Carillion was judged capable of taking on the obligations of its joint venture partners if they failed.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Our Priority is the continuity of public services.
Contractually, the partners to those Joint Ventures are required to deliver the requirements of the Joint Venture if one of the partners fails.
We routinely stress-test contracts to ensure that if one party within a contract fails to deliver, the other parties involved will step in to complete the work. Individual contracts for these Joint Ventures are not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer given by Lord Young of Cookham on 15 January (HL Deb, col 471), which department or government body was responsible for assessing the financial stability of Carillion; and whether the assessment took into consideration the substantial goodwill element within that company's asset base.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
It is the responsibility of individual Contracting Authorities to assess the financial stability of potential suppliers as part of normal procurement activity.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who were the Crown Representatives named for Carillion; what was their period of service; and what was their previous relevant experience.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
A list of Crown Representatives and strategic suppliers is attached.
This list is updated periodically.
Crown representatives are contractors assigned to companies where they have knowledge of the sector, but where there is no conflict with other concurrent roles. They are not political appointees and they have no authority to take procurement decisions.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last published a list of Crown Representatives and strategic suppliers; whether the published listed is updated when appointments cease or new ones are made; and if not, when that list will next be published.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
A list of Crown Representatives and strategic suppliers is attached.
This list is updated periodically.
Crown representatives are contractors assigned to companies where they have knowledge of the sector, but where there is no conflict with other concurrent roles. They are not political appointees and they have no authority to take procurement decisions.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they (1) have paid, and (2) are due to pay, PwC in connection with PwC advising HM Government on the consequences of the failure of Carillion.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In line with all central Government contracts, details of the work PwC are undertaking will be made available on Contracts Finder in due course.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government by whose authority the Crown Representative was removed from Carillion in August 2017; and what assessment they have made of whether there were negative consequences in terms of insight or influence as a result of not having a designated Crown Representative.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
This Government recognises the importance of managing relationships with Strategic Suppliers and their performance on a cross-Government basis, and has developed a range of strategies to do this, including the use of Crown Representatives.
The role of Crown Representative for Carillion was vacant for three months between August and November 2017 following the retirement of the previous post holder. During this period, the Crown representative responsibilities were covered by the Government’s Chief Commercial officer and the Cabinet Office Director of Markets and Suppliers.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many contracts they awarded to Carillion over each of the last three years without open book processes; and what was the value of those contracts.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive
Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Information on whether or not open book processes were used is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their definition of the term “public sector contracts” which they are using in connection with employees of Carillion; and whether that definition includes (1) Private Finance Initiative contracts, (2) other types of public-private partnerships, and (3) work for non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The relevant Carillion contracts are those drawn up under the Public Contracts regulations 2015. These are set out in the Regulations to ensure consistency of understanding and interpretation and be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/contents/made