Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Section 29 of the Procurement Act 2023, how many (a) suppliers and (b) sub-contractors who have been awarded public contracts have been reviewed by his Department on the basis that they present a potential threat to national security.

The Government takes the security of its supply chain extremely seriously and has taken action to bolster the powers to intervene where a risk to national security has been identified.

The Procurement Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and will strengthen the security framework around public procurement. It includes new powers to ban suppliers from specific sectors, such as areas related to defence and national security, while allowing them to continue to win procurements in non-sensitive areas. It will come into effect in Autumn 2024, after which the National Security Unit for Procurement will consider cases relating to these powers.