Oral Answers to Questions

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Satvir Kaur]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight that outsourcing by default does not work, and I agree with his assessment of Capita’s unacceptable failures. Our priority remains supporting those impacted and achieving full service recovery. As I mentioned, if Capita fails to deliver on that by the end of June, all options will be considered. Subject to your agreement, Mr Speaker, my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General intends to make a statement to the House on the Government’s next steps.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to help support small and medium-sized businesses through reforms to public procurement.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking to help support small and medium-sized businesses through reforms to public procurement.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chris Ward)]

This Government are determined to ensure that public procurement backs small and medium-sized businesses. That is why we have strengthened late payment rules, have set ambitious targets for all Departments to spend more with small and medium-sized enterprises—totalling £7 billion by 2028—and are simplifying the entire system to ensure that SMEs get a fairer crack. We are working with the Federation of Small Businesses on this, and there is much more to come.

[Harpreet Uppal]

This week I welcomed Antich & Sons to Parliament. It is a family-owned textiles company that, for the past decade, has been innovating by using traditional local skills and methods to develop 3D weaving techniques and provide cutting-edge advanced material solutions. Given how that aligns with the industrial strategy and the northern growth strategy, what are this Government doing to help companies like Antich & Sons access procurement processes?