Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help increase opportunities for fulfilment companies in Ashfield to secure Government contracts.

Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the UK economy. That is why we are making sure Government spending supports this vital sector, both as part of our economic recovery from COVID-19 and as part of our levelling up agenda. We are increasing opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a variety of ways - from transparently publishing contract pipelines to simplifying bidding processes.

These measures are working. The latest procurement figures for 2019/20 show that £15.5bn was paid to small and medium sized businesses to help deliver vital public services. This figure is an increase of £1.3bn on the previous year and the highest since records began in 2013.

Now we have left the EU, we are able to redesign our procurement framework to create a simpler regime which will be of great benefit to UK SMEs.