Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with those private companies which provide services to Government about (1) employment practices, and (2) the safety of their staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working effectively with the private sector is a vital part of our response to tackling the covid-19 crisis, allowing us to procure quickly and innovatively and to obtain specialist solutions to the myriad challenges that are facing us. The private sector is responsible for the miracle of vaccines being available in record time.

We have always made it clear that contracting authorities must use good commercial judgment and continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, and we have engaged in both internal and external audit to satisfy ourselves that that has been the case.

Through “The Outsourcing Playbook” we are also improving the decision making and quality of contracts that the Government place with industry, and we are building our internal civil service capability, as we believe it is important that we invest in our in-house capacity and expertise so that we rely less on external consultants and contractors

We recognise the important role that Government suppliers have played supporting the Government’s Covid-19 efforts in addition to delivering on their existing public sector contracts.The safety of all staff is paramount, and all suppliers must adhere to Health and Safety legislation, as well as specific departmental policy when staff are working at Government sites.