Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2017 to Question 117657, on Public Sector: Procurement, what plans he has to reduce the volume of information required for businesses that bid for public procurement contracts.

We have already taken action to ensure that bidding processes are simplified across the public sector. Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) have been abolished for low value contracts, and a streamlined, standard Selection Questionnaire introduced for those instances where it is required.

The standard Selection Questionnaire asks potential suppliers to initially just self-declare their status against the exclusion grounds and selection questions. This reduces the burden on organisations providing evidence against those checks and aligns with the process required in the PCR 2015 for the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD).

We will continue to look for ways to reduce the burdens place on companies bidding for government business, especially for smaller businesses.