Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times officials and Ministers in his Department have had meetings with companies that were interested in bidding for the electronic monitoring contract.

The Department does not hold a comprehensive record of how many such meetings took place.

Prior to the competition for replacement electronic monitoring services we engaged the market widely, meeting interested parties in a series of sessions to consider the opportunities presented by emerging technology.

Once the competition was under way, following publication of the OJEU contract notice in February 2012, the Department held various meetings with suppliers selected as bidders and preferred bidders, including negotiations as part of the competition.