Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what importance he places on Government departments prioritising spending on small and medium-sized enterprises; and what the reasons are for that policy.

We recognise the vital role that small and medium-sized businesses have to play in helping us to achieve the best possible value for money when we buy goods and services.

Consequently, we are committed to removing all possible barriers to small businesses in this Government’s commercial arrangements, and we have set ourselves a challenging target of 33% of central government procurement spend going to small and medium businesses by 2022.