Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that procurement regulations do not increase the administrative burden (a) on local authorities seeking to procure education services and (b) on providers seeking to tender for contracts for education services.

The EU Procurement Directives provide for transparent, fair and competitive procurement across Member States. The new directives include several wins for the UK Government, following extensive UK lobbying and negotiation in Brussels.

The new directives ensure light-touch rules for education and other service contracts. These improvements make an important contribution to the Government’s strategy for growth, freeing up public procurement markets through simpler, more flexible procurement rules and cutting red tape.

The Cabinet Office has recently completed a formal consultation on the draft regulations and is currently assessing the results.