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Written question asked by David Anderson (Labour) on Monday, 2 March 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 March 2015. It was answered by Lord Maude of Horsham (Conservative) on Thursday, 5 March 2015 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Public Sector: Procurement

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations he has received in favour of inclusion in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 of provisions to mandate that social, employment and environmental criteria have the same weight of consideration as cost or price when choosing and selecting a contract bid.

Answer

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 implement Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, and came into effect on 26 February 2014. In the negotiations on that Directive, the UK was successful in securing new flexibility, at Article 77, for certain service contracts to be reserved for competition by organisations meeting certain criteria, such as mutuals and social enterprises. Regulation 77 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 implements Article 77 of the Directive, in compliance with European law.

As part of the Government’s consultation on proposals for transposition of the EU Public Procurement Directives 2014, 5 out of 204 respondents requested that the regulations should oblige contracting authorities to include clauses in contracts requiring consideration of social, employment and environmental criteria.

The government's response to the consultation can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transposing-the-2014-eu-procurement-directives

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
225911
Session
2014-15
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Public sector Procurement
Legislation
Public Contracts Regulations 2015
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk