Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department takes to assess potential conflicts of interest between suppliers in government procurement.

We expect suppliers to mitigate appropriately against any real or perceived conflict of interest through their work with government. A supplier with a position of influence gained through a contract should not use that position to unfairly disadvantage any other supplier or reduce the potential for future competition, for example by creating a technical solution that locks in the supplier’s own goods or services.