Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Amanda Milling

Thursday 11th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

What steps his Department has taken to remove potential conflicts of interest when awarding Government contracts in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister without Portfolio (Amanda Milling)]

As we tackle the covid-19 outbreak, it is crucial that Government contracts are awarded efficiently and responsibly to business of all sizes. Paragraph 24 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ensures this by requiring all contracting authorities to take appropriate measures to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising from the conduct of procurement procedures.

[Lilian Greenwood]

Further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi), it was clear that transparency is absolutely vital to public trust in Government. Given that the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Lord Agnew, is responsible for the Government’s policy on coronavirus procurement and is also a shareholder in Faculty, a company that has recently been contracted to provide coronavirus-related services to Government, should not the Government make public the details of the services that Faculty will be providing and Lord Agnew’s involvement in any negotiations?

[Amanda Milling]

I refer the hon. Lady to the previous answer from my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General, which sets out the situation very clearly.