Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to exclude private companies holding community rehabilitation company contracts from taking additional contracts under the new planned probation model.

No organisations have been barred from the competition. The Public Procurement Regulations 2015 contain discretionary grounds for disqualifying a supplier, including where there are “significant or persistent deficiencies" in the performance of a substantive requirement under a prior public contract, which led to early termination of the prior contract in question, or to damages or other comparable sanctions.

The criteria for exclusion have not been met – no Community Rehabilitation Company contracts have been terminated for poor performance, and nor has there been cause to claim damages.

Rules on taking account of suppliers’ past performances can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0415-taking-account-of-suppliers-past-performance