Written question asked by Terry Rooney (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 March 2010. It was answered by Ian Pearson (Labour) on Monday, 1 March 2010 on behalf of the Treasury.

Public Sector: Construction

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps the Office of Government Commerce is taking (a) to monitor compliance by public sector construction clients with the Common Minimum Standards, (b) to ensure that supply team workforces have Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards and (c) to exclude from tendering companies which are not compliant with the Construction Skills Certification Scheme;

Answer: The Common Minimum Standards (CMS) summarise Government policy affecting the procurement of built environments. Government do not centrally monitor procuring organisations' implementation of that policy. One of the standards is for clients to include a contract clause requiring individuals in their supply teams to be registered on the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), a trade body run by CSCS Ltd., or to be able to prove their competence in some other appropriate way.CSCS is managed under contract by CITB-ConstructionSkilis, a sector skills body. The rules and scheme criteria are set by the scheme's owners and Government have no involvement.

Secondary information