Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Government Major Projects Portfolio projects have been re-baselined in the past year.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority estimates that approximately 61% of Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) have been re-baselined between 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024. This rate of change is explained by 3 reasons:
Major projects report a cost baseline that factors in inflation expectations. Each year these expectations have to be revised as inflation forecasts are revised, which in turn leads to a cost baseline revision.
Major projects are the most challenging, ambitious and innovative projects the UK has ever seen, with the scale and scope matching some of the biggest in the world. This challenge is therefore associated with a significant level of uncertainty, which leads to frequent cost baseline revision.
A large number of projects are at the pre-delivery stage, where they are expected, and encouraged, to change their baseline when they are in order to ensure that their plans are correctly set out at the delivery stage.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many statutory public inquiries have been established under the Inquiries Act 2005; what were the names of each inquiry; what were the projected costs of each inquiry at the time of its establishment; and, for those that have concluded, what was the final cost of each inquiry upon its conclusion.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office collects data on the duration and cost of inquiries from departments, inquiries’ own reports, and other publicly available information.
We have provided details on all statutory inquiries established since 2005 in the table below.
We do not hold information on projected costs; under section 17 of the Act, the procedure and conduct of an independent public inquiry are a matter for the Chair, including acting with regard to the need to avoid any unnecessary cost.
Inquiry | Sponsor Department | Legislative Basis | Year established | Duration in months (from announcement to publication of final report) | Reported final costs where publicly available |
Jalal Uddin Inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2023 | Ongoing | - |
Thirlwall Inquiry | DHSC | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2023 | Ongoing | - |
Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing | NIO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2023 | Ongoing | - |
Independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan | Ministry of Defence | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2022 | Ongoing | - |
Dawn Sturgess Inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2022 | Ongoing | - |
UK Covid-19 Inquiry | Cabinet Office | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2022 | Ongoing | - |
Lampard Inquiry | DHSC | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2021 | Ongoing | - |
Jermaine Baker inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2020 | 29 | £4.1m |
Post Office Horizon IT inquiry | DBT | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2020 | Ongoing | - |
Manchester Arena inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2019 | 41 | £35.6m |
Brook House Inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2019 | 46 | £18.7m |
Grenfell Tower Inquiry | Cabinet Office | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2017 | 90 | £177.6m |
Infected Blood Inquiry | Cabinet Office | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2017 | Ongoing | - |
Anthony Grainger Inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2016 | 40 | £2.6m |
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2015 | 99 | £192.7m (as of Dec 2022) |
Undercover Policing Inquiry | HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2015 | Ongoing | - |
The Litvinenko Inquiry | HO, FCO and 3 x Intelligence Agencies | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2014 | 18 | £2.4m (exc. VAT) |
The Leveson Inquiry | DCMS and HO | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2011 | 16 | £5.4m |
The Azelle Rodney Inquiry | MoJ | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2010 | 40 | £2.6m |
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry 2013 / The Francis Inquiry | Department of Health | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2010 | 36 | £13.7m |
The Al Sweady Inquiry | MoD | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2009 | 61 | £24.9m (exc. VAT) |
The Bernard (Sonny) Lodge Inquiry | MoJ | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2009 | 10 | £0.4m |
The Baha Mousa Inquiry | MoD | Inquiries Act 2005 | 2008 | 39 | £13m |
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are committed to a target for Government procurement spend with small and medium-sized enterprises, and if so, what percentage of annual procurement this represents.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth, supports small businesses, champions innovation, and creates good jobs and opportunities across the country.
On 13 February the Government published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), which sets out our priorities for public procurement and maximises the impact of every pound spent. New measures to support the transformation of public procurement and to deliver on the Government’s Plan for Small Businesses includes requiring all government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs (from 1 April 2025) and VCSEs (from 1 April 2026) and publish progress annually.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Deed of Variation to contract 2887470\5, published in the procurement notice on 24 January, what consideration they gave to conducting a new competitive procurement instead of extending a contract first awarded in 2010; and what assessment they made of whether the modification is permissible, including (1) whether the terms of the original contract explicitly provided for a £18.6 million increase, (2) whether the increase affects the contract’s nature or economic balance, and (3) whether the extension and changes to service provisions, including the introduction of training outside the UK, were envisaged within the original scope of the contract.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Deed of Variation to contract 2887470\5, enables the transition of the Emergency Planning College (EPC) to the UK Resilience Academy from 15 April 2025 to deliver strategic national resilience training and exercising outcomes.
Given the complexities of the contract covering the management of the physical site, coupled with the provision of training services, the Authority determined that a medium-term permitted extension would allow for better development and planning for a new competitive procurement opportunity, whilst maintaining continuity of key services.
The contract provides for an extension of not less than 2-years and not more than 5-years, and does not include any financial values or thresholds. The extension does not change the economic balance of the Agreement in favour of the Contractor. International sales were covered within the Bidders' Brief as part of the original tender and subsequently the contract.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many central government organisations have submitted business cases for pay flexibility under the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance 2024–25, published on 29 July 2024; and how many have been approved.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
For 2024/2025, the Cabinet Office has received 11 business cases. Of these, two have been approved to date.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) annual report and accounts 2023–24, published on 24 July, when they expect the Office for National Statistics to complete its review of the CCS classification status; whether they support reclassifying the CCS as a central government entity; and how such a reclassification might affect the trading fund model and the future financial freedoms of the CCS.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
HM Treasury (HMT) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) initiated a formal review of the sector classification in 2024 of CCS as part of their ongoing programme of assessments of the statistical and financial reporting classification of public sector bodies in the National Accounts. The ONS completed the final review in October 2024 and published the outcome on its website. It concluded that CCS’s existing sector classification as a public corporation is correct. This means that CCS will remain a Trading Fund.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the Government Commercial Function’s report Raising standards: our ambition (17 May 2024), whether the Procurement Review Unit has powers to compel disclosure of procurement-related documents and conduct on-site audits of contracting authorities; and if not, whether they have conducted an assessment of the feasibility of amending the Procurement Act 2023 to grant such powers.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Procurement Review Unit (PRU) has been established to exercise the procurement oversight powers set out in Part 10 of the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act). Part 10 comprises three provisions (sections 108-110) which provide for the investigation of a contracting authority’s compliance with the requirements of the Act, the issuing of recommendations to a contracting authority following an investigation and the publishing of statutory guidance to all contracting authorities.
Under section 108 (procurement investigations) the PRU can formally request, via notice, that a relevant contracting authority provide documents and give assistance in connection with the investigation, as is reasonable. The contracting authority has 30 days to comply with the notice.
The conducting of on-site visits to aid investigations may fall under the scope of “give assistance” and would be by mutual agreement between the PRU and the contracting authority. The circumstances giving rise to an on-site visit would have to be proportionate and relevant to the investigation. On-site audits or visits are not currently contemplated as part of a standard PRU investigation, and nor are we considering an amendment to Part 10 of the Act to provide such powers, although the procurement oversight powers and processes will remain under review as the new regime embeds.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the Government Commercial Function’s report Raising standards: our ambition (17 May 2024), whether they will publish the findings and recommendations of Procurement Review Unit investigations on Gov.uk; and what assessment they have made of the merits of requiring their publication by default, except where necessary to safeguard national security or sensitive commercial information.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In accordance with Part 10, the results of any investigations, including any s.109 recommendations and progress reports submitted by the contracting authority may be published, assessed on a case by case basis. Such documents will be published on GOV.UK. Any s.109 recommendations will be issued to support the contracting authority’s compliance with the requirements of the Act and follow a lessons learned approach in order for contracting authorities to reflect on their own approach to compliance and identify areas for improvement.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a supplier that has been debarred from rendering procurement services in a foreign jurisdiction is automatically debarred from UK public procurement; and what criteria are used to assess whether a foreign debarment should be recognised in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Procurement Act, which comes into force on 24 February 2025, will allow the Government to investigate high-risk suppliers on behalf of the entire public sector.
International debarment lists can be considered as part of a debarment investigation that determines whether an exclusion ground applies and enables a Minister of the Crown to decide whether the supplier should be placed on the debarment list.
A live debarment investigation does not prevent a supplier from bidding for public contracts or provide a basis for any further regulatory or legal action against the supplier.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent government procurement suppliers from facing legal or regulatory action for bidding for public procurement contracts while being investigated by authorities under the Procurement Act 2023.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Procurement Act, which comes into force on 24 February 2025, will allow the Government to investigate high-risk suppliers on behalf of the entire public sector.
International debarment lists can be considered as part of a debarment investigation that determines whether an exclusion ground applies and enables a Minister of the Crown to decide whether the supplier should be placed on the debarment list.
A live debarment investigation does not prevent a supplier from bidding for public contracts or provide a basis for any further regulatory or legal action against the supplier.