Written question asked by Simon Thomas (Plaid Cymru) on Thursday, 17 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 March 2005. It was answered by Lord Boateng (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 March 2005 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many suppliers are included on the list of pre-qualified suppliers maintained by the Office of Government Commerce's buying solutions; and how many are located in Wales.

Answer: Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suppliers are included on the list of pre-qualified suppliers maintained by the Office of Government Commerce's buying solutions; and how many are located in Wales. [223333] Mr. Boateng: OGC buying.solutions does not maintain a listing of `pre-qualified suppliers.' Delivery of the products and services is via Framework Agreements and Managed Services contracts. The OGC buying.solutions supply base is 570, of which eight have registered offices in Wales. In order to provide the appropriate service coverage to central Government and the wider public sector within Wales, the supply base may utilise regional offices or sub-contractors based within Wales. The Management Information submitted by each supplier does not include details of which office or sub- contractor is responsible for carrying out work in each region.

Secondary information