Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of barriers to entry on UK small and medium-sized enterprises in competitive public procurement processes.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Procurement Act (PA23) sets, for the first time, a duty for contracting authorities to have regard to the particular barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to consider what can be done to reduce or remove them. Initial trends show that the proportion of PA23 tender lots with a planning, tender, transparency or dynamic markets notice tagged as suitable for SMEs has increased to around two thirds of all requirements.
To continue to build on this positive trend, this Government has also published a new, more ambitious, National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help close the gender pension gap in the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The gender pension gap can be measured in different ways. In order to answer this question, we have used the difference in average pension in payment for men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average pension for men. Based on the latest data available, from 2024, the gap has reduced from 47% in 2016 to 42%.
We fully expect this position to continue to improve as the equality employment legislation reduces historical differences in both the gap in pay and pensions accruing.
The Cabinet Office will be commissioning the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out further analysis of the current position and will then consider next steps.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle reported delays, unanswered correspondence, and difficulties accessing civil service pension records.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In November 2023, the Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita. This was under the previous government. The Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December 2025. We are aware that Capita’s current performance is having a detrimental impact on some members.
We are working urgently with Capita to resolve these issues, and to ensure that civil servants, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
We have established a cross-departmental team to work with Capita to develop and implement a recovery plan. Alongside this, Capita is increasing staffing in key areas, to increase processing times in relation to new retirements and support for members, particularly those impacted by delays.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, updated on 19 May 2025, what his expected timetable is for association of the UK to the European Union Erasmus+ programme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed to work towards the association of the UK to the EU Erasmus+ programme. We are taking forward the next stage of negotiations on the clear mutual understanding that the UK will only associate to Erasmus+ on terms that provide value for money for the UK taxpayer. The timelines for any association will be subject to further discussion as part of these negotiations.