Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the RM6277 framework agreement on small and medium-sized recruitment agencies supplying non-clinical staff to the NHS.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) designed the RM6277 Non Clinical Staffing commercial agreement with small-medium enterprise (SMEs) accessibility in mind. SMEs secured over 70% of places across lots 1 to 6 and 46% in lot 7.

CCS commercial agreements are not mandatory, and provide a compliant route to procure common goods and services. It is the responsibility of each organisation, including the NHS, to determine whether to use a framework.