Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the level of risk to UK citizens' data where that data is hosted on public cloud providers; and steps his Department takes to protect UK citizens' data on public cloud providers.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
It is the responsibility of every government department, including the Cabinet Office, to make a risk-based assessment of their use of cloud providers for the storage of government data up to “OFFICIAL” level, including UK citizens’ data. When considering a commercial provider, departments should take into account the cloud security principles developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/implementing-cloud-security-principles).
The Cabinet Office carries out this risk assessment for each service it delivers to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to protect citizen data.
Departments are required to follow the Technology Code of Practice when choosing a cloud provider, and this is assessed as part of the spend controls function. Departments must show that they have chosen the technology which provides the best value for money while meeting user needs. The Central Digital & Data Office carries out ongoing engagement with departments to review their decision-making about hosting. This includes qualitative analysis through user research as well as spend controls.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of SMEs accessing Public Sector contracts via the digital platform of Bloom Services; and if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of those services with those provided by Crown Commercial Services.
Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Government wants suppliers of all sizes, including SMEs, to be able to compete for and win government business and we have reduced many of the barriers and bureaucracy in public sector procurement.
We have made no assessment of Bloom Services. However, suppliers are free to use whichever service is most appropriate for them in order to access public contracts.
Contracts Finder covers current and future public sector contracts above £10,000 in central government and £25,000 in the wider public sector. It also includes information on contracts awarded, and whether the contract has been won by small or medium sized businesses or voluntary bodies. It is free to use, and accessible from smartphones and tablets. It is the responsibility of all departments to publish accurate contract notices and award notices on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 105512 on Government Departments: Procurement, whether his Department has responsibility for the social value of Government spend.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Individual departments are responsible for their own commercial decisions, including the award of contracts.
In 2020, we launched a new model to deliver social value through Government's commercial activities. Central government organisations should use this model to take account of the additional social benefits that can be achieved in the delivery of its contracts, using policy outcomes aligned with this Government’s priorities.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2022 to Question 101713, what estimate he has made of the cost implications of being locked into one supplier when determining value for money; whether his Department has made an assessment of the social and security value of supporting UK suppliers; and whether his Department is responsible for the economic and social impacts of individual Government Department outsourcing decisions.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Each Buying Authority has their own commercial spend controls that apply to their contracts with suppliers. Value-for-money and cost implications will vary on a case-by-case basis and it is down to each department to determine what these are in their respective circumstances. The Technology Code of Practice ensures that departments have multiple options available with a range of suppliers.
The driving principle behind public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money. That means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project, not just price alone. The best way to test for and to demonstrate this principle is via an open competition, as is required in most cases by public procurement legislation.
The government wants UK businesses to be successful in bidding for UK public contracts. That is why this government is committed to the procurement reform bill which will provide simpler, less bureaucratic processes for our businesses and better commercial outcomes for our public bodies - all while continuing to comply with our international commitments.
Through our new approach to extend the use of the Social Value Act, effective from 1 January 2021, additional social benefits can be taken into account in the delivery of contracts in a streamlined and standardised way, using policy outcomes aligned to this government’s priorities. From creating jobs and skills, building diverse supply chains and working towards Net Zero, embedding social value in procurement can help us to invest in our communities.
In addition to training commercial staff and making detailed guidance available to all on gov.uk, Cabinet Office and DCMS are working with supplier representative bodies and other external stakeholders to continue to build awareness.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has competitive suppliers for cloud services; and what the the maximum proportion of cloud services the Government will place with one supplier is.
Answered by Michael Ellis
There are a range of suppliers that compete to offer services via a number of framework agreements through the Crown Commercial Service, such as G-Cloud and Cloud Compute. Pricing and commercial offers in this industry are very competitive between suppliers.
Government does not place a cap on the proportion of cloud services provided by any of the current suppliers. Government Departments conduct their own assessments around value for money and implement their outsourcing strategies accordingly to meet their needs.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing contract with GCHQ provides for a minimum of 10 per cent social value in line with public procurement policy; and if he will publish details of what those social value commitments are.
Answered by Michael Ellis
It is government policy not to comment on or discuss details of national security contracts.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the total value of Government cloud computing contracts (a) awarded to Amazon Web Services and (b) awarded to that company by direct award for each financial year since 2014.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Publicly available spend data provided by the Crown Commercial Service reports that spend associated with these contracts totals at £371m through G-Cloud Framework Agreements since its 7th iteration up until the present time.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value is of Government cloud computing contracts with Amazon Web Services since 2014; and how that compares with the total value of Government cloud computing contracts with the largest domestic UK supplier over the same period.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Publicly available spend data provided by the Crown Commercial Service reports that spend associated with these contracts totals at £371m through G-Cloud Framework Agreements since its 7th iteration up until the present time.