Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to respond to breaches of the Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 Ethical Behaviour provisions.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses.

The Procurement Act 2023 allows contracting authorities to require that suppliers meet specific standards by, where appropriate, setting them as conditions of participation in a procurement. Contracting authorities must be satisfied that any such conditions of participation have been met before awarding a public contract, including when a supplier proposes to meet them via a subcontractor. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire template, published on the Procurement Pathway, helps contracting authorities collect relevant subcontractor information.

The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) also helps to protect UK subcontractors working with government suppliers by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and unfair, late payment issues.

The UK Government Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 (published May 2023) outlines the ethical standards expected of suppliers working with the government. Although the Code is not legally enforceable, it encourages transparent dialogue where standards are not met and, in extreme unresolved cases, escalation to the Government Chief Commercial Officer.

We will set out further reforms to procurement rules, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course.