Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authority contracts are (a) awarded following fair processes and (b) represent value for money.

Local authorities are independent statutory bodies accountable to their electorate.

As public bodies, councils are subject to Procurement Contract Regulations (2015), which, subject to the will of Parliament, will be replaced as set out in the Transforming Public Procurement Bill.

The overarching aim of procurement regulations is to ensure open, fair, proportionate and transparent processes are adhered to. At the heart of procurement regulations is achieving value for money. Local authorities contract within these legal frameworks and are themselves responsible for evaluating and delivering value for money on behalf of their local residents.