Phillip Lee
Main Page: Phillip Lee (Liberal Democrat - Bracknell)Department Debates - View all Phillip Lee's debates with the Cabinet Office
(11 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Hurd
The money has not come from youth services. That is a completely separate budget. The National Citizen Service programme is proving hugely valuable to young people. We have a 95% customer satisfaction rating and, to answer the hon. Lady’s question, independent research is already telling us that the social benefit to cost ratio is 2:1, and we look to build on that.
Dr Phillip Lee (Bracknell) (Con)
6. What steps he plans to take to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to secure more Government contracts.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
8. What recent assessment his Department has made of the extent to which small businesses are engaged with the process of public procurement.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Miss Chloe Smith)
Since the general election we have introduced radical measures to make it easier for SMEs to win Government business. These will support growth and innovation. Gone are barriers like unnecessary pre-qualification questionnaires. New opportunities are published on our contracts finder website and SMEs can challenge obstruction through the mystery shopper service.
Dr Lee
Over the past two years, I have been contacted by more than one construction company in my constituency that have encountered difficulties in securing small business contracts from both local and national Government. Will my hon. Friend continue to press Departments to remove the burdensome procedures and bureaucracy that make it harder for SMEs, such as those in my constituency, to compete for and win both local and national Government contracts?
Miss Smith
We certainly will. We have appointed an SME champion in every central Government Department, all Departments have presented their plans for increasing their percentage spend with SMEs, something Labour never bothered to measure, and our mystery shopper service will continue to provide an outlet for challenging poor service and conditions.