Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any independent assessment has been conducted of the risks associated with continuing to rely on Fujitsu for critical government services, including the Trader Support Service.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As a public contracting authority, HMRC follows government procurement rules, including the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, to ensure value for money and robust risk management. The current Trader Support Service (TSS) contract was procured in full compliance with these regulations, as will the replacement contract. HMRC applies the government’s Sourcing Playbook throughout its commercial activity, which includes rigorous risk assessments and financial due diligence. These processes are designed to ensure that suppliers can deliver critical services and that risks—whether operational, reputational, or legal—are identified and mitigated. HMRC maintains active contract management arrangements to monitor performance and ensure continuity of service.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Fujitsu's suitability for the re-tendering of the Trader Support Service contract, given the company's role in the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Trader Support Services contract was procured in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Existing service delivery is managed robustly by contract management teams in compliance with this legislation and to ensure that the requirements of UK traders are met under the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance has been issued to departments regarding the awarding of public contracts to suppliers that have caused public harm, with specific reference to Fujitsu.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The impact of the Horizon scandal on postmasters and their families has been horrendous. The Government is determined to hold those responsible to account and will continue to seek to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues currently being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Government are carefully considering volume 1 of the report. Once the inquiry has established the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, where appropriate.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes. It will bid for work with existing government customers only where it already has a contract with them or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for the award and management of contracts. With regard to scrutiny during procurement processes, the Procurement Act 2023 enables and, where appropriate, requires the exclusion of suppliers where they pose particular risks to public procurement. The Cabinet Office has issued substantial guidance for departments, available on gov.uk. The exclusions regime provides a framework within which contracting authorities must consider a supplier’s recent past behaviour and circumstances (or their presence on the debarment list) to determine whether it should be allowed to compete for or be awarded a public contract.
The National Procurement Policy Statement asks contracting authorities to ensure they have the appropriate procurement and contract management skills and capability necessary to deliver public contracts and encourages the use of collaborative procurement frameworks, where appropriate, to deliver value for money.
To provide transparency, the government regularly publishes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for its most important contracts, and the performance of the vendor against those KPIs.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Fujitsu's suitability as a strategic supplier following the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The impact of the Horizon scandal on postmasters and their families has been horrendous. The Government is determined to hold those responsible to account and will continue to seek to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues currently being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Government are carefully considering volume 1 of the report. Once the inquiry has established the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, where appropriate.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes. It will bid for work with existing government customers only where it already has a contract with them or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for the award and management of contracts. With regard to scrutiny during procurement processes, the Procurement Act 2023 enables and, where appropriate, requires the exclusion of suppliers where they pose particular risks to public procurement. The Cabinet Office has issued substantial guidance for departments, available on gov.uk. The exclusions regime provides a framework within which contracting authorities must consider a supplier’s recent past behaviour and circumstances (or their presence on the debarment list) to determine whether it should be allowed to compete for or be awarded a public contract.
The National Procurement Policy Statement asks contracting authorities to ensure they have the appropriate procurement and contract management skills and capability necessary to deliver public contracts and encourages the use of collaborative procurement frameworks, where appropriate, to deliver value for money.
To provide transparency, the government regularly publishes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for its most important contracts, and the performance of the vendor against those KPIs.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Fujitsu contracts have been extended by HM Revenue and Customs in the past 12 months; and whether ministerial approval was sought.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Seven Fujitsu contracts have been extended by HMRC in the past 12 months to ensure continuity of essential services. These are: the Call-Off Contract for COTS Software (Oracle), Crown Hosting Run, Data Services, Data Project Services, Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and Vulnerability Managed Service, Pre-Production Environment (PPE) Web Solutions, and the Trader Support Service. As a public contracting authority, HMRC adheres to the procurement rules and spend controls set by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, obtaining appropriate ministerial approval where required. Of the seven contracts, six had extension values below the Cabinet Office Spend Control threshold of £20 million and were approved internally by HMRC in line with established processes and governance controls. Only one contract—the Trader Support Service—exceeded the threshold (£66.8 million) and therefore required both Cabinet Office Spend Control and Ministerial Approval.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to consult communities and experts on developing a long-term counter-extremism strategy aimed at building democratic and societal resilience, strengthening cohesion and reducing extremism and other societal threats.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all polices relating to national security and public safety under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel on the terror attack on 16 February at Re’em Junction that killed two and left four injured.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
This terrorist attack serves as a reminder of the daily security challenges Israel faces. The Government condemns all violence against innocent civilians and, as the Government has stated previously, for there to be a lasting peace, Israel's security must be assured. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we continue to have regular discussions with Israeli counterparts on all aspects of the conflict.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent Iranian media reports that Iran is supplying Hezbollah with ‘Almas’ anti-tank missiles.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We condemn Iran's destabilising political, financial, and military support to proscribed groups, including Lebanese Hizballah. We have made clear to Iran that it must cease proliferating advanced weapons systems throughout the region. We will continue to work to disrupt Iran's destabilising activity in Lebanon and the wider region, including by holding Iran to account in multilateral fora and through sanctions; addressing Iranian weapons proliferation; and strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Autumn Statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 22 November (HC Deb cols 325–357), whether they have any plans to provide an enhanced package of financial support for care leavers aged 18 to 25 when they leave the care system.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department recognises the challenges that care leavers face as they make the transition from care to living independently and have put in place a range of support measures.
To help care leavers to engage in education, employment and training (EET), the department has increased the Care Leavers’ Apprenticeships Bursary from £1,000 to £3,000. Local authorities are required to support care leavers to engage in EET, including providing a £2,000 bursary if the young person is studying in higher education. Care leavers are also a priority group for the 16 to19 bursary if studying in further education (up to £1,200 per year).
In addition, the department has increased the leaving care allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 to enable care leavers to furnish their first home, and the Junior ISA scheme provides an initial £200 payment to open a savings account for all children who have been in care continuously for 12 months. Anyone can pay money into the accounts, and the funds can then be accessed by the young person when they leave care at age 18.
Improving outcomes for care leavers is a cross-government priority and there are a range of ways in which the government is supporting care leavers to reduce their financial vulnerability, including:
Local authorities are required to publish their ‘local offer’ for care leavers, setting out care leavers’ legal entitlements, plus any further discretionary financial support that the local authority provides, such as Council Tax Exemptions, free leisure passes and rent deposit/guarantor schemes.
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Autumn Statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 22 November (HC Deb cols 325–357), what plans they have to extend the Household Support Fund.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Government has provided over £2 billion in funding for the Household Support Fund since October 2021.
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.