Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Agreement on Government Procurement, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing devolution arrangements for procurement after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The current public procurement rules will continue to apply until the UK has left the EU following the successful conclusion of exit negotiations. The longer-term opportunities for our procurement regulations are being considered carefully.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Agreement on Government Procurement, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing devolution arrangements for procurement after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The current public procurement rules will continue to apply until the UK has left the EU following the successful conclusion of exit negotiations. The longer-term opportunities for our procurement regulations are being considered carefully.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 114740, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of public sector buyers' published payment performance; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of public sector buyers who are meeting the stated 30-day payment term.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Although their performance is not monitored routinely, public sector buyers are required to publish their payment performance annually. Data published in 2015-16 shows that by the final quarter all major departments, apart from one (at 76%), were meeting their 5 days target and that all departments were paying at least 96% of their invoices within the 30 day target, with several departments achieving 100%.
Moreover, businesses can report poor payment practice and instances of late payment, including late payment through the supply chain, in public sector contracts to our Mystery Shopper service, which will then investigate
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2017 to Question 117657, on Public Sector: Procurement, what plans he has to reduce the volume of information required for businesses that bid for public procurement contracts.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We have already taken action to ensure that bidding processes are simplified across the public sector. Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) have been abolished for low value contracts, and a streamlined, standard Selection Questionnaire introduced for those instances where it is required.
The standard Selection Questionnaire asks potential suppliers to initially just self-declare their status against the exclusion grounds and selection questions. This reduces the burden on organisations providing evidence against those checks and aligns with the process required in the PCR 2015 for the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD).
We will continue to look for ways to reduce the burdens place on companies bidding for government business, especially for smaller businesses.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2017 to Question 117657, what guidance he plans to issue to business on the improvement made to those digital procurement platforms.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Crown Commercial Service emails all registered suppliers with details of enhancements to Contracts Finder in advance and when they are released. Contracts Finder is also featured in our programme of presentations to SMEs and industry bodies.
As Crown Marketplace progresses past the test phase a supplier engagement strategy (which includes communications and guidance) is being developed. Crown Marketplace continues to engage closely with the supplier market including SMEs.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises suppliers were paid within 30 days of invoice date by prime contractors to Government departments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Through the Public Contract Regulations 2015, public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in new public sector contracts; and require that this payment term be passed down the supply chain. Public sector buyers must also publish annually on their payment performance.
Information on prompt payment by prime contractors is not held centrally. However, between 1 November 2016 and 31 October 2017, seven cases of late payment in the supply chain were referred to our Mystery Shopper Service.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the report commissioned to identify where Government departments can increase spending on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In response to a recommendation from the Public Accounts Committee, the Crown Commercial Service commissioned research to help to identify the areas where small and medium-sized businesses can best add value.
This work was undertaken to inform internal decision-making and is not intended for publication.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what importance he places on Government departments prioritising spending on small and medium-sized enterprises; and what the reasons are for that policy.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We recognise the vital role that small and medium-sized businesses have to play in helping us to achieve the best possible value for money when we buy goods and services.
Consequently, we are committed to removing all possible barriers to small businesses in this Government’s commercial arrangements, and we have set ourselves a challenging target of 33% of central government procurement spend going to small and medium businesses by 2022.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Government spend in 2015-16 was on small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the (a) communications, (b) construction, (c) engineering goods, (d) industrial services, (e) logistics and (f) office solutions sectors.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
On 11th October 2017 we published the latest small and medium-sized enterprises’ spending performance figures:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2015-to-2016
These show that government spent £12.2 bn in 2015-16 with small and medium sized enterprises, more than we have ever before recorded.
We do not currently monitor the breakdown of spend with SMEs by commercial sector.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, when the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Panel last met; and when it next plans to meet.
Answered by Theresa May
As my Office confirmed in September, the Business Advisory Group was disbanded as part of a process to review and broaden business engagement structures.
I have maintained a high level of business engagement across all sectors and parts of the UK.