Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of 7 July 2021, Official Report, column 920, if he will specify the key tests that are required to be met in relation to emergency contracting procedures.
Answered by Edward Argar
‘Procurement Policy Note 01/20: Responding to COVID-19’ guidance on public procurement regulations is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The Department must demonstrate on a case by case basis that it is satisfied the tests set out in the guidance permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication have been met. The Regulations state that the Department should ensure there are genuine reasons for extreme urgency; the events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable; it is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the Public Contract Regulations; and the situation is not attributable to the contracting authority.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether staff employed on zero hour contracts, who receive their holiday pay as an average of their earnings, are entitled to receive their full holiday pay entitlement through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and whether there are requirements under that scheme for employers to provide employees with written confirmation of holiday (a) entitlement and (b) payment whilst being furloughed.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Individuals, including those on zero-hour contracts, can take paid holiday, and continue to accrue holiday entitlement, while on furlough.
If a furloughed worker takes holiday, the employer should pay them their full holiday pay, calculated in accordance with BEIS guidance. Employers will be obliged to fund any additional amounts over the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grant.
BEIS has published guidance covering how holiday entitlement and pay operate during the coronavirus pandemic, where it differs from the standard holiday entitlement and pay guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/holiday-entitlement-and-pay-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
There is no requirement specific to the CJRS scheme in which the employer will need to provide written confirmation to workers of holiday entitlement and holiday payment while on furlough.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the comments of the second permanent secretary in the departmental minutes of December 2020, what a sub approval is in connection with Government covid-19 contracts.
Answered by Edward Argar
A reference to a ‘sub approval’ in this context is referring to Ministerial decisions which take into account advice from officials presented to them in the form of a written submission for approval.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 14-day right to return and refund contained within the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 applies to privately-purchased covid-19 tests.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) Regulations 2021 does not disapply any existing consumer protection rights.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to prevent contracts being awarded under the emergency procurement rules to companies that have not submitted accounts to Companies House on time.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, should be published on Contracts Finder.
Being able to procure at speed has been critical in the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many contracts were awarded without tender under the emergency procurement rules during the covid-19 outbreak; and what the total value was of those contracts.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, should be published on Contracts Finder.
Being able to procure at speed has been critical in the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional steps they are taking to provide financial support to industries with large proportions of freelancer workers.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government recognises the extreme disruption the necessary actions to combat Covid-19 are having on industries with large proportions of freelance workers.Eligible businesses may already benefit from available employment schemes, government grant and loan schemes, and a reduction in VAT and business rates relief. At Budget, the Chancellor extended many of these schemes beyond the end of the Roadmap to accommodate even the most cautious view about the time it might take to exit restrictions.
For example, the Government announced at Budget that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant. This provides certainty to self-employed individuals, including many freelancers, as the economy reopens. The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who are most reliant on their self-employment income.
However, the SEISS is just one element of an unprecedented package of support for the self-employed. As well as the business support outlined above, the temporary £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance was extended at Budget for six months, and the Government also extended the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor for three months, to the end of July 2021, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award can continue to take into account their lower earnings.
At Budget, the Government also extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for a further five months from May until the end of September 2021. Furloughed workers in the UK will continue to receive more generous support than those in many other countries, as the CJRS ensures employees receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to £2500 per month, until the end of September. The CJRS has been available to all employers with a PAYE system and all employees on PAYE regardless of their employment contract. As such, freelancers and those on short term contracts could be eligible for the CJRS if they are on PAYE and meet the eligibility criteria.
In addition, the Culture Recovery Fund has already supported over 5000 organisations including theatres, music venues, comedy clubs and festivals, helping to enable performances to restart, protect jobs and create opportunities for freelancers.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his cancellation of outstanding orders for rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) tests with Abingdon Health in January 2021, what steps he has taken to improve his Department’s commissioning process.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No contract was awarded to Abingdon Health Limited in October 2020.
The Department continues to use the appropriate procurement procedures within the Public Contract Regulations to award contracts to suppliers. All suppliers pass through a rigorous regulatory and validation process to ensure that they meet the same high quality standards.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent cuts to the construction industry workforce once the furlough scheme ends.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The construction sector will be a key part of the UK’s economic recovery from Covid-19. Construction output has significantly increased since May 2020, with record monthly growth in June 2020, and strong growth continuing into 2021, with £23 billion of large construction contracts awarded for a range of infrastructure, housing and commercial projects. We expect this strong growth to continue during the rest of the year, meaning there is likely to be less of a need for Government support.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is designed to be a temporary measure to support businesses facing severely restricted demand. It has provided significant support to the construction sector, with payments made between 1 November 2020 and 31 March 2021 totalling £1,023m, with 83,000 firms using the CJRS, helping to protect over 200,000 jobs.
The Government continues to work closely with the industry to support its recovery, and to ensure that it can retain and develop the skilled workforce it needs. This includes through an accelerated pipeline of projects worth up to £37 billion, the introduction of a Talent Retention Scheme to help workers move into jobs, and work with the Construction Leadership Council and Construction Industry Training Board to ensure effective support to ensure the construction workforce is equipped with the skills that the industry needs.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) support the development of social enterprises, and (2) integrate social enterprises into plans to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government is committed to developing the innovative and impactful work of social enterprises across the UK. For example:
Through the pandemic, the Government provided an unprecedented package of support, including furlough payments, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Bounce Back Loans, and direct funding through the £750 million charities and social enterprise support package.
The new social value model presents a significant opportunity to support social enterprises and invest in our people and communities. Developed with stakeholders, including the federation of Small Businesses and Social Enterprise UK, the model ensures social value is explicitly evaluated in all major central government contracts from January 1st 2021.
All individuals and organisations, including social enterprises, have a part to play in helping us to protect the environment. We welcome small businesses from across the UK to join the green business revolution and commit to becoming greener and more sustainable as we work towards our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.