Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Procurement Policy Note 04/20: Recovery and Transition from COVID-19, published on 9 June 2020, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of maintaining the provision of contractual relief as a result of covid-19 in line with Procurement Policy Notice 02/20; which (a) companies and (b) work areas will be affected by changes to that contractual relief; and what the timeframe is for proposals to change that contractual relief.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office previously considered and applied Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/20 from end of March 2020 onwards. All Relief measures agreed under PPN02/20 ended by 30th June 2020. Throughout the aforementioned period any suppliers seeking financial relief have been risk assessed by a dedicated team within the Commercial Directorate. Where relief has been considered we have applied contract change practices to ensure measures are time limited, offer transparency of costs and are able to transition to a new operational approach for that contract. All relief measures sought under PPN04/20 are to be re-assessed to test necessity and proportionality of relief to ensure maintenance of critical services.

We are working in partnership with our suppliers to develop transition plans to exit from any relief arrangements as soon as reasonably possible, including the agreement of contract variations. By the end of Oct 2020 we expect suppliers to have resumed services in line with new operational requirements and all associated relief should end by this date. This is in addition to working with all our key suppliers to review Business Continuity Plans in line with the impacts of COVID-19, potential future waves, ensuring rapid payment of invoices to maintain cash flow and protect services.