Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create an outsourcing regulator with powers to intervene to prevent the waste of taxpayers' money, as advocated by the Reform think tank.

This government will always champion the private sector's vital role in delivering our public services. The Government is committed to delivering value for money but has no plans to create an outsourcing regulator.

The Government has recognised the need for reform and over the past year the Government has made great strides in improving how we work with the private sector with the introduction of the Outsourcing Playbook in February 2019. The Outsourcing Playbook sets out eleven new policies to ensure contracts are set up for success and services are protected in the event of a corporate failure.

The Cabinet Office is working with departments to implement the Playbook across all central Government departments and arm’s-length bodies.