Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2023 to Question 193672 on Department of Health and Social Care: Contracts, what systems are in place for Ministers to track spending on (a) all contracts and (b) contracts where problems are encountered.

A post award assessment is made on the risks to contract delivery and each contract is given a classification which determines the nature and intensity of the contract management support from officials at the department. The Departments contract management operating model includes tools such as a contract management plan, balanced scorecard, risk register and issues log, business continuity plans and exit plans. Scorecards are produced which provide a balanced view of performance, risks and issues, finances and spending, which inform an overall risk profile and which can be provided to Ministers on request.

Contract performance for high-risk contracts is reported to the Department’s Performance and Risk Committee as well as to Permanent Secretaries ahead of the bi-annual accountability meetings they hold with Directors. Whilst there isn’t systematic reporting to Ministers across all contracts, Ministers have been provided with ad-hoc reporting on expenditure and savings options against certain categories of contracts (consultancy and professional services for example).

The Department has introduced a system to attach contract references to all new individual purchase orders raised in the payment system from June 2021 where associated to a contract. The project is due to be completed within the next 12 months which will enable the central collation and validation of spend against the Department’s full portfolio of contracts.

The Department operates its commercial activities in accordance with the good practice set out by the Government Commercial Function, and our approach has been reviewed by both the National Audit Office and Government Internal Audit Agency.