Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to strengthen counter-fraud measures for public procurement.

The Government is committed to rooting out fraud and corruption in public procurement. All contracting authorities must act and be seen to act with integrity.

We have worked closely with the Serious Fraud Office, the Competition and Markets Authority and other experts to strengthen the rules around supplier exclusion through measures in the Procurement Bill and ensure that suppliers with a track record of fraud or corruption will be excluded from procurements, and cannot be awarded public contracts unless they can demonstrate that the circumstances giving rise to the fraud or corruption are not likely to occur again.

In addition, the Government has established the Public Sector Fraud Authority as part of a range of measures to tackle waste and inefficiency across the public sector. The Public Sector Fraud Authority is a new team at the heart of Government which works with departments and public bodies to understand and reduce the impact of fraud.