Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had on public services being granted exemptions from the 2014 EU Procurement Directives.

During the negotiations on the Directives, and subsequently during the transposition process, we have held discussions with the Local Government Association. Local authorities have also received face-to-face training on the new rules, and have responded to the Government’s recent public consultation on the draft regulations implementing the Directives.

The new Directives will allow local authorities to procure faster, with less red tape.

It is up to individual contracting authorities to reflect the 2014 EU Procurement Directives in their own processes and procedures.

The EU Public Procurement Directive (2014) sets out the exemptions and exclusions that apply. It is up to individual contracting authorities to decide whether or not to avail themselves of the exemptions for any particular procurement.

The new EU Procurement Directives support UK Government priorities of economic growth and deficit reduction by making the public procurement process faster, less costly, and more effective for business and procurers alike.

Throughout the negotiations last year, the UK Government was determined to remove outdated and superfluous constraints and introduce many new reforms to streamline and modernise public procurement.

The Regulations transposing the new Directive will also implement recommendations made by Lord Young of Graffham, which will ensure a simple and consistent approach to procurement across all public sector authorities so that small businesses and voluntary sector businesses can gain better and more direct access to the public sector market.