Oral Answers to Questions

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

We want both public and private sector customers to buy British steel whenever possible. The Government have published a pipeline of future public procurement in which steel is needed, so that British producers can plan to bid to take part in the process.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

4. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ethical procurement.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Oliver Dowden)]

The Government are committed to ethical procurement. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires commissioners to consider the social benefits of their approaches to procurement, and the industrial strategy requires Departments to consider wider social and economic factors in the design of major Government contracts.

[Kerry McCarthy]

Another recent report has commented on the link between ultra-processed food and cancer, rising levels of obesity, and the fact that only one in four adults is eating five a day. What more can the Government do through their public procurement processes to encourage healthy, sustainable eating, and to source it from British producers?

[Oliver Dowden]

The hon. Lady has raised an important point. As I have said, the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 enables procurers to take those wider factors into account. We are also encouraging the adoption of a so-called balanced scorecard approach whereby, in the process of procurement, we consider those wider factors. We have rolled that out for all contracts worth more than £10 million, and have extended it to the Crown Commercial Service framework for facilities management.