Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 28 December 2016 (HL4016), and in the light of the involvement of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the LuxLeaks trials in Luxembourg and the reported pressure placed upon one of the LuxLeaks whistle-blowers to sign a secrecy agreement, whether they intend to desist from conducting any further Government business with PwC.

As stated in my response of 21 December 2016 (HL4016), the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 ensures that workers who raise concerns of wrongdoing to their employer or a relevant external body (by making what is known as a ‘protected disclosure’) and suffer detriment as a result may seek redress through an Employment Tribunal.

When a finding of unlawful practices has been made against the organisation at a Employment Tribunal, a public body may exclude that organisation from participation in a procurement procedure. This is laid out in the discretionary exclusion grounds of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Such a finding has not been made against PwC as a result of the LuxLeaks trials.