Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings have been held of the Supply Chain Advisory Group announced on the 8 October 2021; what the dates of those meetings were; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Last month, the Prime Minister appointed Sir Dave Lewis to advise HM Government on supply chains to identify both immediate improvements and any necessary long-term changes. He has spoken with over 100 businesses from across 14 sectors since his appointment. We understand the importance of working closely with businesses to help them solve these issues and to help us understand what more the Government can do to support all sectors of our economy. It is important that these are open conversations and that businesses feel able to provide, often commercially sensitive, information to Government without fear of compromise.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle supply chain issues in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Government Ministers responsible for the supply chain ecosystem are working collectively, and in close partnership with industry, to drive the development and delivery of plans to strengthen supply chain resilience, supporting economic recovery and levelling up.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of exports from small and medium sized enterprises (SME) as of 21 July 2021; and what assessment he has made of trends in the level of exports from SMEs in the last five years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 the potential effect of not consulting business or trade union on the Government guidance entitled Coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread, updated on 19 March 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Step 4 policy and guidance was developed in collaboration with departments and stakeholders including businesses and unions. The Government continuously reviews and updates the guidance available in light of emerging information and feedback from the public, working to ensure the guidance is clear and accessible.
We discussed the development of guidance with stakeholders, including businesses and unions, however this did not happen under a formal consultation process, largely due to the need to react and make decisions swiftly at Ministerial level, given the circumstances during the pandemic.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what target each Department has for the proportion of their spending that is contracted with SMEs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is committed to increasing spend with SMEs.
The latest procurement figures for 2019/20 show that across government, £15.5bn was paid to small and medium sized businesses to help deliver vital public services. This is an increase of £1.3bn on the previous year and the highest since records began in 2013.
Central government departments have dedicated SME action plans setting out specific actions being taken to promote increased spend with SME organisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of central government procurement that is spent with SMEs led by minority ethnic groups.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held centrally.
The government is committed to supporting start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), directly or via the supply chain, through government procurement, including those led by women and minority ethnic groups. Government spending with SMEs is also continuing to rise, with 26.7% of the £58bn spent by the government in 2019/20 going to SMEs.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of central government procurement that is spent with majority women-led SMEs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This information is not held centrally.
The government is committed to supporting start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), directly or via the supply chain, through government procurement, including those led by women and minority ethnic groups. Government spending with SMEs is also continuing to rise, with 26.7% of the £58bn spent by the government in 2019/20 going to SMEs.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government is making on meeting its target of spending 33 per cent of its procurement budget with SMEs by March 2022.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to my answer to PQ 2999 on 24 May 2021.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the share of Government contracts that are won by SMEs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government wants SMEs to benefit from central government procurement spend, either directly or indirectly via the supply chain.
Reports on central government spend with SMEs are published on GOV.UK on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office. The latest procurement figures for 2019/20, published on the 7th of May 2021 show that across central government, £15.5bn was paid to SMEs to help deliver vital public services. The figure is an increase of £1.3bn on the previous year and the highest since records began in 2013. Overall, spending with SMEs represented 26.7 per cent of the £58bn spent by the government in 2019/20 – an increase of 1.1 per cent on the previous year.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he had made of the effect on employment levels in the event that an agreement is not reached on a future relationship with the EU by the end of the transition period.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Any responsible Government has a duty to prepare for all scenarios. Planning for the end of the transition period is well underway and we have already been engaging with businesses and industry, including ensuring our borders are ready by the end of the year, and will continue to do so.