Public Sector: Contracts

(asked on 13th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of fraud or error in contracts awarded under the Regulation 32 (2)(c) exemptions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Julia Lopez Portrait
Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This question was answered on 4th August 2020

Further to the answers given to PQs 64368 and 64369 on 6 July 2020, the Government is clear that being able to procure at speed is critical during the covid-19 response. I have taken note of the Hon. member's letter to the Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, sent 18 March 2020, in which she referenced the "desperate need for more to be done and faster".

The Hon Member also sent the Cabinet Office a list of companies which the Hon Member asked the Government to contact in relation to the procurement of PPE. I can confirm that the Government conducts diligence before contracting with parties, including when it makes use of exemptions under the Public Contracts Regulations. I note that other administrations, including the Welsh Government, have made use of "specific flexibilities of the procurement rules at this time".

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