Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of recent changes in the tender for the crown marketplace purchasing platform upon the Government’s ability to achieve its target to tender 35 per cent of Government spending to UK-based SMEs.

The vision of the Crown Marketplace remains unchanged and the digital products we will launch this year will provide numerous opportunities for SMEs to tender and obtain value for money for the taxpayer. This will support the Government's aspiration for 33% of procurement spend to go to SMEs by 2022, and I have recently announced a package of tough new measures designed to level the playing field for smaller businesses bidding to win government contracts, whether this be through the Crown Marketplace or other Government tendering portals.