Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2015 to Question 321, what qualifications and at what level are required by non-National Citizens Service personnel in charge of children taking part in residential training weeks under the National Citizen Service scheme.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The quality of all staff involved in NCS is vital to its ongoing success. All personnel involved in delivering the residential phase of the programme must hold a DBS certificate, be recruited in line with safer recruiting best practices and possess such qualifications as required to fulfil their roles.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what qualifications and at what level are required of the personnel in charge who have responsibility for children taking part in residential training weeks under the National Citizen Service scheme.
Answered by Rob Wilson
All National Citizen Service (NCS) delivery staff must hold a DBS check and possess the relevant qualifications required to fulfil their roles. The NCS Trust has worked with the Institute for Outdoor Learning to develop specific quality standards.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the contribution of 23 January 2014 by the Minister of State in his Department, Official Report, column 516, on Shrewsbury 24 (release of papers), when he expects the review of papers held in relation to those convicted in 1973 in relation to alleged incidents during the national building workers strike at building sites in the Shrewsbury area to be concluded.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
A review of these retained papers is under way and will be completed by the end of 2015, as required by the Public Records Act.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the Public Procurement Contract Regulations 2015 deliver an increase in not-for-profit delivery of public procurement contracts.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect on 26 February. They will provide a much more modern, flexible and commercial approach compared to the previous regime. Outdated and superfluous constraints have been removed, and many new reforms have been included to streamline and modernise public procurement.
We have also introduced further measures to remove barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises. Together, these will make it easier for all suppliers to bid for and win public procurement contracts.
The new measures will increase the visibility of low-value contract opportunities and make the bidding process quicker and simpler across the wider public sector. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts. Everyone in the supply chain must comply with 30-day payment terms, including suppliers and sub-contractors, and public bodies must publish an annual late payment report, making their accountability more transparent.
For a range of services that are commonly delivered by public service mutuals (such as social and cultural services) commissioners will also have the option of using a ‘mutuals reservation’. This grants public bodies the ability to limit competition to mutuals and social enterprises that meet the tests set out in the directive. This means many mutuals will be able to win their initial contract without having to compete with more established players, allowing them to establish and grow as a business during their first 3 years.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations he has received in favour of inclusion in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 of provisions to mandate that social, employment and environmental criteria have the same weight of consideration as cost or price when choosing and selecting a contract bid.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 implement Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, and came into effect on 26 February 2014. In the negotiations on that Directive, the UK was successful in securing new flexibility, at Article 77, for certain service contracts to be reserved for competition by organisations meeting certain criteria, such as mutuals and social enterprises. Regulation 77 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 implements Article 77 of the Directive, in compliance with European law.
As part of the Government’s consultation on proposals for transposition of the EU Public Procurement Directives 2014, 5 out of 204 respondents requested that the regulations should oblige contracting authorities to include clauses in contracts requiring consideration of social, employment and environmental criteria.
The government's response to the consultation can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transposing-the-2014-eu-procurement-directives