Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor profits made by public procurement suppliers that accrue to offshore trusts.

The driving principle behind public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project.

The Government expects businesses to take all necessary steps to enable themselves to comply with their tax obligations, to ensure a fair and level playing field.

HM Revenue & Customs require certain large multinational enterprises to report details of their economic activities in each country where they operate and the taxes paid in each country. There are penalties for those that file late or fail to do so.

The Procurement Bill introduces new mandatory grounds for the exclusion of bidders which are found guilty of tax evasion or involvement in abusive tax avoidance schemes, whether in the UK or overseas.