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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what procurement process was undertaken before the award of contracts to Faculty Science Ltd; what work that company has been contracted to provide; and for how long that company will use the personal data it has been granted access to.

The contract with Faculty was awarded following a robust selection process through the Crown Commercial Service’s G-Cloud Digital Marketplace in line with its published processes, further details of which can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/g-cloud-buyers-guide.

The company has been awarded a call-off contract for the provision of data science services, more specifically helping the Department to analyse data in real time allowing it to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on local communities and respond to emerging issues at pace. In line with the legal obligations under the Framework Agreement, Faculty must stop using any data they have been granted access to as part of this contract when the contract expires.