Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to prevent public contracts being awarded to companies that blacklist workers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 contain exclusion grounds which allow contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from procurements where their tender does not comply with labour law or where the supplier is guilty of grave professional misconduct. A breach of the Blacklists Regulations on a particular tender would render the supplier liable to exclusion and a breach more widely may amount to grave professional misconduct.
In all cases, individual departments and other public sector bodies are responsible for their own decisions on these matters
The Procurement Bill introduced by the Government, currently in the final stages of debate in Parliament, builds on and clarifies the exclusions measures in the existing regime. This includes specific measures enabling the exclusion of suppliers for labour market misconduct and professional misconduct.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to prevent public contracts being awarded to companies that blacklist workers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 contain exclusion grounds which allow contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from procurements where their tender does not comply with labour law or where the supplier is guilty of grave professional misconduct. A breach of the Blacklists Regulations on a particular tender would render the supplier liable to exclusion and a breach more widely may amount to grave professional misconduct.
In all cases, individual departments and other public sector bodies are responsible for their own decisions on these matters
The Procurement Bill introduced by the Government, currently in the final stages of debate in Parliament, builds on and clarifies the exclusions measures in the existing regime. This includes specific measures enabling the exclusion of suppliers for labour market misconduct and professional misconduct.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of UK-made (a) clay bricks, (b) roof tiles and (c) drainage pipes in public procurement.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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. Public sector contracting authorities are required to purchase products and services through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation, and are responsible for their own commercial decisions, including the award of contracts.
The Government wants UK businesses to be successful in bidding for UK public contracts. That is why we introduced the Procurement Bill, currently being considered by Parliament. This Bill will reform public procurement and make it simpler, quicker and cheaper for suppliers, including British SMEs and social enterprises, to bid for public sector contracts - lowering barriers to entry to the market.
We also want UK businesses to be successful in competing for public contracts in other countries around the world, which we achieve by negotiating guaranteed market access for UK suppliers in many international free trade agreements. Our membership of the World Trade Organisation's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) gives British businesses access to £1.3 trillion in public procurement opportunities overseas, including opportunities in some of the world's major economies.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has purchased any products manufactured by Hikvision or Dahua in the last three years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We can confirm that the Cabinet Office has not contracted directly with either of the named suppliers during the period in question.
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the government’s security arrangements. This includes any specific details regarding the make and model of security systems, which are withheld on national security grounds.
Each Department is responsible for their own procurement decisions. Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of value based procurement decisions for incontinence products on (a) system costs for the (i) NHS and (ii) social care sector and (b) patient outcomes.
Answered by Will Quince
We are working to improve spend data systems through implementation of the Government’s Medical Technology Strategy. There are different supply routes available in the NHS, including through NHS Supply Chain, NHS Shared Business Services, direct from supplier to Trust and via prescription on Part IX of the Drug Tariff. NHS Supply Chain are currently in the process of working on two separate value-based procurement projects for continence, both of which aim to concentrate on patient outcomes.
Regulation 68 of the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 allows contracting authorities to determine the most economically advantageous tender and the lowest cost by using a life-cycle costing approach which includes all costs over the life cycle of works, supplies or services.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of health services, including urinary incontinence for their local health economy and taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England’s Excellence in Continence Care guidance published in July 2018, indicates that personalised care including personal health budgets can be arranged locally by ICBs to help people manage and pay for their continence care needs.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the consultation document Public sector food and catering policy for England: The Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF), published in June 2022, whether the proposed criteria in that document encouraging the purchase of locally produced food are compatible with the non-discrimination obligations of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defra’s consultation on food and catering policy sought views on a number of proposals to update the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services. This included ways of meeting the Government’s manifesto commitment encouraging the public sector to procure British food to support the environment, animal welfare and our farmers. We will publish the consultation findings, alongside updated standards and guidance later this year. Whilst it is too soon to pre-empt any specific findings at this stage, the final policy will be compliant with the Government’s domestic and international obligations, including under the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Government Procurement.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of disqualifying late-paying companies from public procurement contracts.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government understands the critical importance of prompt, fair and effective payment to all businesses, helping them grow and thrive.
Since 1 September 2019, suppliers already risk being excluded from winning large government contracts if they cannot demonstrate prompt payment to their supply chains. Suppliers must now demonstrate they pay 90% of their invoices within 60 days or be excluded, and provide an action plan for improvement if they are not paying 95% within 60 days, or risk similarly being excluded.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, which of his Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.
The Cabinet Office had 19 commitments set out in Part 3 of the NDS. These commitments, along with their implementation status, are set out in the table below.
We remain fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the Cabinet Office will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.
Ahead of this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.
Cabinet Office commitments as set out in the National Disability Strategy Part 3 (2021) | Status of commitment |
Better recognise the exceptional contribution of disabled people to the UK through the honours system. | Partially implemented. |
Launch a new website and application system to transform how disabled people can access public appointments, alongside increased outreach with disability networks. | Partially implemented. |
Develop a new principle that arm’s length bodies offer disabled non-executive directors on their boards the ability to do their duties remotely, if they so wish. | Fully implemented. |
Ensure the exemplar accessibility of government buildings, through the work of the Government Property Agency. | Partially implemented |
Introduce legislation to require returning officers to consider the needs of people with a wide range of disabilities. | Please see the reply of Dehenna Davison MP, on behalf of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on 20 June 2023: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-06-15/189778 |
Progress work to require landlords to make reasonable adjustments to the common parts of leasehold and commonhold homes. | Not implemented. |
Run a campaign to help the public sector make mobile applications accessible, and raise awareness of how people can raise complaints about inaccessible websites. | Fully implemented. |
Consult on workforce reporting on disability for large employers, exploring voluntary and mandated workplace transparency, and publish a set of next steps. | Paused. |
Lead by example, taking further measures to make the Civil Service a brilliant place to work for disabled people, including timely workplace adjustments, support for staff disability networks and continuing to grow our multi-award winning work experience and development programmes. | Fully implemented. |
Lead a multi-year programme to improve the availability, quality, relevance and comparability of government disability data. | Not implemented. |
Leverage government’s procurement spend to drive better outcomes for disabled people. | Fully implemented. |
Review our approach to ensure we are engaging in the best ways and with a sufficiently diverse group of disabled people. | Paused. |
Explore the establishment of a world-leading Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology. | Paused. |
Expand the Disability and Access Ambassadors programme. | Fully Implemented. |
Assess the assistive and accessible technology needs of disabled people in England. | Fully implemented. |
Through the Central Digital and Data Office, deliver a single government account for users’ personal and business needs, benefitting many disabled people. | Partially implemented. |
Improve the accessibility of government communications. | Partially implemented. |
Work across government to drive further action on crime, accessible products and services and social participation. | Not implemented. |
Through Places for Growth, help create a fully inclusive and diverse workforce for the long term, not the short term, and developing talent opportunities across the Regions and Nations of the UK. | Partially implemented. |
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Public Procurement Note 04/23: Procuring Steel in Government Contracts, published 11 April 2023, on the domestic steel industry.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The updated Public Procurement Note (PPN) 04/23 implements most of the recommendations produced by the Steel Procurement Taskforce, which is a joint effort between Government and the steel industry to help the sector best position itself for success in public contracts.
PPN 04/23 reflects changes to the project appraisal and procurement policy landscape and commercial best practice while clarifying the scope of reporting requirements on steel origin data. It also enhances our procurement data collection methodology, and it emphasises the importance of early engagement between procurers, producers, and suppliers, to help make future opportunities more visible.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered the potential merits of providing public funding for the work of the Imagination Library.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Imagination Library is a book gifting programme devoted to inspiring a love of reading in children. The department knows that book sharing supports the kinds of conversations between caregiver and child that promote children’s early language development.
The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver a joint £300 million package to transform services for families through a new network of Family Hubs in half of the local authorities in England. This includes over £28 million to invest in evidence-based programmes which support parents to chat, play and read with their children to improve their early development, with priority given to the families that will benefit most.
This work is complemented by the Better Health Start for Life campaign, which provides online resources giving parents easy, practical tips to chat, play and read with their child. These resources are accessible at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/baby/learning-to-talk/learning-to-talk-0-to-6-months/.
The department has also launched a procurement round to grant fund voluntary sector organisations to support the home learning environment with a particular focus on supporting disadvantaged groups. Information on this fund is available at: https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/early-years-disadvantage-vcs-grants-2023-25-1.