Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.

Procurement rules require the Department to exclude any supplier for non-payment of taxes if the breach is established by a court ruling. Information is not collated centrally on companies excluded from bidding for Departmental contracts as a result of prosecutions or convictions in relation to the payment of taxes. Officials are not aware of any such cases.