Employment Schemes: Contracts

(asked on 7th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that smaller organisations can bid for contracts to collaborate with her Department’s employment programmes; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Mims Davies Portrait
Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 15th December 2020

The Employment Category has a number of commercial approaches that mean there is a place for all organisations to compete for tendering opportunities and believe that successful employment can only be delivered through a rich tapestry of organisations.

For the smaller scale and localised opportunities, we have a Dynamic Purchasing System please find link Contracts Finder, which has been operating for some time, managed by our Operation staff. Following a survey of some 2000 organisations we are seeking to make improvements in that system and approach to make it easier for organisations to navigate.

For larger procurements, there are supply chain opportunities and under the government transparency requirement many of these opportunities are advertised (please refer to the Procurement Policy Notice 04/19 issued by the Cabinet Office) which we fully embrace.

We understand that the Employment Category uses a range of approaches including Provider Code of Conduct, supply chain payment mystery shopper and other commercial levers to ensure a positive environment for all providers to assist the Department.

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