Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the impact of improved procurement and contracting terms on (a) costs to contracts and (b) value for money.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
By getting things right from the start and driving better contracting with the private sector, the playbook policies prioritise high quality outcomes, whilst also driving efficiencies and savings. The Government Commercial Functions cashable and non-cashable benefits are included in the Government efficiency savings, 2021 published on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-efficiency-savings-2021/government-efficiency-savings-2021)
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many outsourcing contracts the Government has in place broken down by (a) central Government, (b) defence, (c) the NHS, (d) local government, (e) schools and (f) wider education; and what the total value is of those contracts by each category.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many disputes on outsourced public service contracts have been referred to ACAS in the last three years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the potential practice of public bodies using procurement to reduce costs and cost-shifting to other public sector budgets.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government knows that excellence in procurement practice is essential to delivering high quality services for the public.
The Sourcing Playbook sets out the Government's policies with regards to outsourcing.
Its introduction by this Conservative Government improves decision making and the quality of contracts government places with industry. The playbook is focussed on getting things right from the start, and includes 11 key policies which help government and industry work together to deliver high quality public services and emphasises that government contracts are let on the basis of value for money.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff have transferred to contractors under TUPE regulations since 2010.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Information on the number of individuals that have transferred under TUPE regulations to an organisation under contract with the Cabinet Office is not held.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are employed by (a) private companies and (b) community and voluntary sector organisations contracted to deliver public services.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) private companies and (b) community and voluntary sector organisations are contracted to provide public services.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to take steps to increase public procurement spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the single buyer agreement for public sector food on levels of spend with SMEs.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are increasing opportunities for SMEs in a variety of ways - from transparently publishing contract pipelines to simplifying bidding processes. The new procurement regime this Conservative government is putting in place with our new freedoms outside the European Union will create a simpler and significantly more transparent system that will further open up public procurement to SMEs so that they can compete for and win more public contracts.
The latest procurement figures for 2020/21 show that £19.3bn was paid to SMEs to help deliver vital public services. This figure is an increase of £3.7bn on the previous year and the highest since a Conservative led Government began recording the amount spent on SMEs in 2013, something not done under the last Labour government.
SMEs in the food supply chain have been consulted as part of supplier engagement activities for the proposed Buying Better Foods framework. Feedback from these activities shaped the procurement strategy for the framework agreement. SME producers will have increased opportunities to work with the public sector.
Customers will be able to request nominated local products (subject to the local supplier/producer meeting the minimum technical standards). These products would be consolidated into a single delivery with their food order. This is in addition to the SME’s already supplying the Wholesale market. This agreement will further support SMEs as KPIs will be established within the procurement evaluation to establish and monitor SME participation with action plans for growth; giving more data and transparency within the sector.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the creation of a single buyer agreement for public sector food.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Crown Commercial Service (CCS), representing the Cabinet Office, Defra and its Ministers have worked closely together throughout the development of the proposed agreement.
Defra approached CCS in 2019 to consider the concept of developing a commercial strategy and procurement solution for food produce, specifically a holistic approach to the ordering, fulfilment, consolidation and delivery of food produce to customers.
CCS have been working alongside Defra to design a commercial solution, and Defra will be responsible for establishing the updated Government Buying Standards for Food. CCS and Defra continue to work closely together on this issue.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish an impact assessment setting out the potential impact of the creation of a single buyer agreement for the public sector on the competitive landscape of the wholesale market for SMEs.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
SMEs in the food supply chain were consulted as part of supplier engagement activities. Feedback from these activities shaped the procurement strategy for the proposed framework agreement.
SME producers will have increased opportunities to work with the public sector. Customers will be able to request nominated local products (subject to the local supplier/producer meeting the minimum technical standards). These products would be consolidated into a single delivery with their food order.
Many other Public Buying Organisations (PBOs) offer food and or drink commercial solutions, to the public sector which is not managed by CCS as a central government organisation. CCS consulted with a number of PBO’s as part of their food strategy development.
CCS’ initial proposed commercial solution value will have a headroom to accommodate £100 million worth of spend over the 4 year agreement period. This equates to less than 5% of the £2.1 billion public sector food spend.