Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government's policy is on procuring (a) goods and (b) services from UK companies.

Public sector purchasing authorities are required to seek value for money for goods and services through fair and open competition, social value and in line with our current international obligations. The Government has also extended the requirements of the Public Services (Social Value Act 2012) to ensure that all major procurements explicitly evaluate Social Value where appropriate.

The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The best way to bring this about is for those companies to offer the goods and services we need at quality levels and whole-life costs representing value for money. To this end the Government is seeking to ensure the huge purchasing power of government supports the task of boosting growth, and enables us to actively shape the UK market for the long term.

Improving pre-procurement dialogue is a key part of that process, helping us develop a more strategic relationship with industry. The Government is providing industry with visibility of up to £191bn of potential procurement opportunities across 19 sectors. In addition, we are working with businesses to identify and address any key capabilities needed to meet future demand; actively helping them to remove barriers and supporting growth through additional benefits that boost exports and drive innovation.