Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 10 of the procurement policy note, Publication of payment performance statistics published by the Crown Commercial Service in March 2015, how many Mystery Shopper spot checks have been undertaken, when those spot checks took place, and which bodies were subject to those spot checks.

The Mystery Shopper Service undertook 65 spot checks between 2016 and 2017 looking at a range of procurement issues. The public sector bodies involved in these were central government departments, wider public sector bodies (including councils, NHS Trusts and Housing Associations) and the Crown Commercial Service itself (CCS frameworks). Currently, Mystery Shopper is following up on cases where significant recommendations to procurement practice have been made.