Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) cost and (b) complexity of public procurement applications on the capacity of small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate.
The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs.
In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually.
The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of public procurement contracts awarded to small and medium sized businesses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate.
The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs.
In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually.
The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support small businesses with public procurement applications.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate.
The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs.
In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually.
The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will make the (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 under-18 conception data ward level data available for local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office of National Statistics will publish the quarterly England and Wales and Local Authority under-18 conception data for 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will publish the quarterly and annual under-18 conception data for (a) 2022: England and Wales, Local Authority and District level and (b) 2023: England and Wales, Local Authority and District Level.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 11521 on Government Departments: Sick Leave, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in 2023.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The table below provides the estimates requested, number of long term sick days lost per department, along with our preferred measure, Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition. Data is provided for the main Ministerial Departments consistent with the answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 11521.
Long term sickness absence by Main Department, days lost and average working days lost per staff year, 2023
| 2023 (year ending 31 Mar 2023) | |
Department | Long Term Sick Days Lost | Average Working Days Lost |
Cabinet Office | 24,260 | 2.3 |
Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities | 8,360 | 2.0 |
Department Culture Media and Sport | 3,370 | 1.4 |
Department for Environment | 25,560 | 2.1 |
Department for Education | 19,790 | 2.5 |
Department for Transport | 75,190 | 4.8 |
Department for Health and Social Care | 34,180 | 3.3 |
Department for Work and Pensions | 367,360 | 4.7 |
HM Customers and Revenue | 305,190 | 4.5 |
HM Treasury | 4,230 | 1.5 |
Home Office | 139,980 | 3.8 |
Ministry of Defence | 173,050 | 3.2 |
Ministry of Justice | 580,740 | 6.9 |
Scottish Government | 151,000 | 5.8 |
Welsh Government | 21,560 | 3.9 |
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of local council waste collector vacancies in each year since 2015.
Answered by John Glen
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 31st January is attached and I have placed a copy of the datasets in the Libraries of the House.