Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on (a) due diligence and (b) vetting procedures for external contractors used for public service delivery.

Local authorities are responsible for the award of contracts in line with the procurement regulations at the time of the award. This would include undertaking due diligence on suppliers as required by those regulations.

The government must ensure that there are sufficient safeguards in place to ensure appropriate suppliers are awarded public contracts. The Procurement Act 2023 has strengthened our ability to respond where issues arise and to address poor performance. Cabinet Office has published extensive guidance to support contracting authorities, in addition to a robust and wide reaching training offer to support the implementation of the Procurement Act.