Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to adapt Government procurement strategies as a result of the High Court’s recent ruling on contract publication.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has a longstanding commitment to the principle of transparency in procurement.
We have recently launched our Green Paper on transforming the UK’s public procurement regulations. The proposals outline specific measures to strengthen transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle and make sure we can have a choice of direct award and more competitive tendering during crises.
The Crown Commercial Service aims to create a framework which will provide an efficient and compliant route to market for public sector bodies for a broad range of voucher schemes. A Prior Information Notice was issued to the market on 29th January 2021 and stakeholder engagement is ongoing, prior to the issuance of a formal contract notice. The maximum potential value of call offs by the public sector is anticipated to be £3.3bn over the lifecycle of this framework agreement.
The framework agreement will not deliver voucher based reward and recognition schemes to employees but will cover a wide range of voucher types, such as to reward and incentivise the general public (i.e. in response to completing surveys) and to provide support to those in times of need or distress.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Public First’s performance in its contracts relating to the covid-19 response.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to my answer to PQ 77727 on 6 October 2020, public sector procurement is subject to a legal framework which encourages fair and open competition and value for money, in line with internationally and nationally agreed obligations and regulations. Public sector procurers are required to assess value for money using criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, including compliance with the published specification.
Cabinet Office, like all departments, is responsible for the monitoring of its contracts. This research has helped us to understand public attitudes and behaviours to inform our vitally important public health messages and policies during the pandemic.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to consider Public First as a candidate for future covid-19 contracts.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to my answer to PQ 77727 on 6 October 2020, public sector procurement is subject to a legal framework which encourages fair and open competition and value for money, in line with internationally and nationally agreed obligations and regulations. Public sector procurers are required to assess value for money using criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, including compliance with the published specification.
Cabinet Office, like all departments, is responsible for the monitoring of its contracts. This research has helped us to understand public attitudes and behaviours to inform our vitally important public health messages and policies during the pandemic.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister to the Liaison Committee on 13 January 2021, what teething problems are being experienced by UK exporters.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Hon. Member both to the letter by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 11 February, a copy of which I have asked to be placed in the House of Commons Library and to the response, published on gov.uk, to erroneous claims made by the Road Haulage Association available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-points-raised-in-road-haulage-association-letter-to-the-chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster
I also refer the Hon. Member to the answers given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to questions on 11 February.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many lorries have been turned away at UK borders as a result of inadequate paperwork since 1 January 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Hon. Member both to the letter by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 11 February, a copy of which I have asked to be placed in the House of Commons Library and to the response, published on gov.uk, to erroneous claims made by the Road Haulage Association available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-points-raised-in-road-haulage-association-letter-to-the-chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster
I also refer the Hon. Member to the answers given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to questions on 11 February.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many lorries have been turned away at UK borders as a result of the driver failing to produce a negative covid-19 test since 1 January 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Hon. Member both to the letter by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 11 February, a copy of which I have asked to be placed in the House of Commons Library and to the response, published on gov.uk, to erroneous claims made by the Road Haulage Association available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-points-raised-in-road-haulage-association-letter-to-the-chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster
I also refer the Hon. Member to the answers given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to questions on 11 February.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the UK has made in its engagement in the Open Government Partnership; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the latest independent report finding that the UK's latest open government commitments were limited in scope, did not take proper account of proposals from the public and charities, and did not address major issues like Freedom of Information processing and public procurement issues, as highlighted by the NAO.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK is a founding member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and is committed to upholding the organisation’s values of transparency, accountability and public participation. Work on the forthcoming National Action Plan will take place throughout 2021, with a model of engagement designed to encourage greater public participation, collaboration, and expert involvement.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his oral contribution of 2 February 2021, Official Report column 837 on Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation, what the significant issues are that he would not describe as teething problems.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the Honourable Member to the letter sent to Vice-President Sefcovic on 2 February.
The letter can be found here.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will outline the steps taken by the Government to identify which parts of its response to the covid-19 outbreak should be outsourced to private companies.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government recognises that outsourcing is an important component in a “mixed economy” of public service provision and that the private sector has played a crucial role in the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including in relation to the development and procurement of the Government’s world-leading vaccine programme. Under the terms of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, departments and other public authorities are able to use various applicable procedures. Public authorities across the United Kingdom including the devolved administrations and local authorities have made use of direct awards - this includes Leeds City Council. Similar approaches were adopted by many other countries, including Japan, Finland and New Zealand. It is unrealistic to suggest that the government ought to have run a full public procurement competition for PPE and other critical contracts at the height of the pandemic. The minimum number of days a competitive award could take place under the current rules is 25 days. This would have hugely slowed down the buying of vital PPE supplies.
Further to the Outsourcing Playbook, available on gov.uk, and as has been the case under successive administrations, public sector contracting authorities are responsible for their own commercial decisions, such as the award and monitoring of contracts. New commercial policy relating to the evaluation and delivery of social value outcomes through central government procurement did not come into force until 1 January 2021. It is therefore unlikely that a formal assessment of social value was made in relation to direct award contracts relating to the covid-19 response. Regarding cyber security, details of the Cyber Essentials scheme is available on gov.uk. The requested information on service credits is not held centrally.
I note that the Hon Member has not yet replied to the letter by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 20 November 2020. As a courtesy, I will ensure that a further copy of the letter is sent to her office to ensure she has a chance to reply to the points raised.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the process is for (a) identifying and (b) evaluating the capacity of companies being considered for contracts relating to the covid-19 response.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government recognises that outsourcing is an important component in a “mixed economy” of public service provision and that the private sector has played a crucial role in the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including in relation to the development and procurement of the Government’s world-leading vaccine programme. Under the terms of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, departments and other public authorities are able to use various applicable procedures. Public authorities across the United Kingdom including the devolved administrations and local authorities have made use of direct awards - this includes Leeds City Council. Similar approaches were adopted by many other countries, including Japan, Finland and New Zealand. It is unrealistic to suggest that the government ought to have run a full public procurement competition for PPE and other critical contracts at the height of the pandemic. The minimum number of days a competitive award could take place under the current rules is 25 days. This would have hugely slowed down the buying of vital PPE supplies.
Further to the Outsourcing Playbook, available on gov.uk, and as has been the case under successive administrations, public sector contracting authorities are responsible for their own commercial decisions, such as the award and monitoring of contracts. New commercial policy relating to the evaluation and delivery of social value outcomes through central government procurement did not come into force until 1 January 2021. It is therefore unlikely that a formal assessment of social value was made in relation to direct award contracts relating to the covid-19 response. Regarding cyber security, details of the Cyber Essentials scheme is available on gov.uk. The requested information on service credits is not held centrally.
I note that the Hon Member has not yet replied to the letter by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 20 November 2020. As a courtesy, I will ensure that a further copy of the letter is sent to her office to ensure she has a chance to reply to the points raised.