(1 year, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberNominations are, as my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) will know, taken on merit. The criteria that we use are regularly reported to Government, with our most recent report on the operation of the honours system published last month. We are confident that the process for honours selection, including adequate probity and propriety checks, is proportionate and robust and that all due process is followed.
My hon. Friend is too modest to mention that he came up with this idea some time ago, and it is one that we have considered, but it is not one that we will be taking forward at this moment in time. We go to great lengths to ensure that the process remains transparent, and he can read the most recent report, which was published last month. It is essential that we ensure that the committees that make the considerations around the honours system can do so and can report to this place and to the public. While I am aware that he would like us to go further, we do not believe it necessary to uproot the entire system. We want to ensure that the honours system represents people from the length and breadth of the country.
The Prime Minister insists that he was only following convention when he waved through Boris Johnson’s honours list. It should be obvious to anyone that this former dishonourable Member—a man who will not even be allowed back on to the estate without an escort—should not be doling out honours. Would a stronger, more principled Prime Minister not have recognised that any convention that allows such a man to install his discredited cronies as peers might need changing, rather than blindly following?
The hon. Lady knows that there is a long-standing convention from 1895 that outgoing Prime Ministers have a resignation honours list. To put it in plain language for her, just because that gentleman has been found against in this House, it does not mean that the people who were put forward in his resignation honours list are without merit.
(1 year, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy hon. Friend is absolutely right: taxpayer money must always be used responsibly. Unfortunately, the conditions of the grant were not met and therefore no funds from the automotive transformation fund were paid out. We are pleased that Britishvolt has successfully been acquired and we will continue to work closely with the local authority to ensure the best outcome for this sale.
It is very nice to take another question from Bristol. Under our rules, Government suppliers are required to report their emissions and commit to the UK’s net zero target when bidding for contracts valued above £5 million per annum. If they fail to do so, they risk being excluded from procurement.
I thank the Minister for that response. Around £5 billion a year is spent on public sector food and catering services, and the national food strategy—Henry Dimbleby’s version—said that public food procurement is dominated by a quasi-monopoly, so very big companies are involved. How does that fit in with the policy note on carbon reductions, and are the Government looking to food suppliers through those contracts to reduce their carbon emissions?
The hon. Lady asks an important question. It is true that net zero is a big principle for Government and feeds through into all our work, including the public procurement contract. We have had some important debates around this during the passage of the Procurement Bill.
This is a matter for the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. I know that his Department and the Government will be looking at the after-effects of this major change. What I can tell the hon. Gentleman is that in my constituency, and in the constituencies of many hon. Members, there were absolutely no problems at the polling booths, despite all the woeful predictions of people like himself.
May I return to my earlier question? It seems to me that the Cabinet Office is not taking enough interest in food procurement. I urge Ministers to speak to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, because we are still awaiting a response to the consultation that closed on 4 September. Part of that consultation was about how we can ensure that the Government procure more food locally and sustainably. Will the Minister assure me that he will talk to DEFRA and try to ensure that that is the trajectory of public food procurement?
I am always talking to DEFRA colleagues and always delighted to do so. I am pleased to tell the hon. Lady that the Crown Commercial Service is looking specifically at how we can involve small and medium-sized enterprises in public food procurement.
(1 year, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe hon. Lady will know from the many debates we are having on this subject that transparency is a key element of our new regime, which replaces the old, outdated EU regulations and will ensure that there is sunlight throughout the procurement process, from start to finish.