Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, when the contract for running the Commons Remote Voting system was awarded to Civica Election Services; and whether the contract was subject to open competition.
Answered by Pete Wishart
The Commons Remote Voting system is being developed and implemented entirely by existing Parliamentary Digital Service resource. No contract has been awarded for this work. A contract was awarded on 22 April to Civica Election Services to run an online ballot for the Chairs of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and the Committee on Standards. An open competition was not required as the expected final value is below the £10,000 threshold at which the Parliamentary Procurement Rules require multiple quotes to be sought.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Director of the Child Maintenance Service plans to respond to the letter of 18 April 2018 from the right hon. Member for Warley.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have urgently contacted the House of Commons office and we now have a copy of the letter of 18 April 2018 to which we will reply as a matter of urgency.
We are also investigating the circumstances which gave rise to this delay.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department's purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department's purchasing policies support the Government’s commitment to do all it can to ensure UK suppliers can compete effectively for public sector contracts, in line with our current international obligations and guidance issued by the Crown Commercial Service.