Public Contracts: Conflicts of Interest

Debate between Lord Wallace of Saltaire and Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

Thursday 17th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

As long as the Ministerial Code is closely adhered to, along with the regulations, everything should be in order as far as appointments are concerned.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the distrust of public service that public interest economics has left many Conservatives feeling has led to an overdependence on outside consultants and interlocking bodies, to which successive Governments have paid a great deal of money over the last few years? The worry that this Question reflects is exactly about the extent to which overdependence on outside consultants, who have their own self-interests to protect and defend, needs much greater examination than it currently gets.

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

Again, with the regulations and the code of practice this should work well and all the boxes are ticked. We want to make sure that this Government are successful in public procurement and to that end the best way is to make sure that companies adhere to the regulations and the code of practice so that they can move forward. We must make sure that we are helping industries in this country get involved in public procurement.