Interserve

Debate between Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Grade of Yarmouth

Wednesday 20th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Cookham]

The Government keep all the contracts under review. We have developed arrangements with all the major contractors. We have continuity arrangements known as living wills should there be, by any chance, any corporate failure. As I announced, looking forward, there will be a number of policy changes to ensure that better decisions are taken in future. We believe it is important to have a robust outsourcing market. The fact that Interserve has survived means that we still have a larger number of suppliers in this market than would have been the case had it gone out of business.

[Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Con)]

Would my noble friend the Minister agree that perhaps there is a lesson in procurement here? Taking the lowest bid in a tender process is not necessarily the best long-term value for money.

[Lord Young of Cookham]

I entirely agree. The Government want to get the right mix of quality and effectiveness at the lowest possible price over the lifetime of the contract. There is certainly flexibility in our current rules to ensure that a higher-quality bid is successful even though it may cost more than other bids.