Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many companies supplying goods and services to his Department, or contracted to deliver services on behalf of his Department, have been identified as avoiding their tax liabilities in the UK.

Procurement rules require the Department to exclude any supplier for non payment of taxes if the breach is established by a court ruling. Information is not held centrally on prosecutions or convictions in relation to the payment of taxes by companies currently supplying goods and services under contracts to the Department.

On 8 February 2017, Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service published Procurement Policy Note 8/16: Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ). The Department uses this SQ to gather information on and make assessments of prospective bidders' credentials, before considering tenders. This includes questions to gather information about companies' track records including declarations around payment of taxes.