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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what conclusions he has drawn on the effect that a national procurement plan for the Fire and Rescue Service will have on competition in the industries concerned; [186970] (2) what assessment he has made of the impact that plans to reform guidelines for procurement to the Fire and Rescue Service will have on the supply sector's (a) small and medium-sized enterprises, (b) levels of employment, (c) research and development capability and (d) exports. [186969] Mr. Raynsford: Officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are preparing a Regulatory Impact Assessment on the draft National Procurement Strategy. This Assessment, which will be issued shortly as part of the consultation document on the draft National Procurement Strategy, will include a competition assessment which will look at the impact for UK customers. It will analyse the impact of the proposed regulation in the relevant markets and on importers into the UK. We will carefully consider any comments arising from this consultation exercise. Officials have recently held very constructive meetings with representatives of the Federation of British Fire Organisations (FOBFO) and the Fire Fighting Vehicles Manufacturers Association (FFVMA). Lead officials will also be participating in the procurement workshop lead by FOBFO at the Fire Conference in September.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

424 c1157W;424 c1166-7W; 186970;186969

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Companies Fire and rescue services Procurement Modernisation Rescue services

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk