Written question asked by Lord Mendelsohn (Labour) on Thursday, 15 July 2021, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 29 July 2021. It was answered by Lord True (Conservative) on Wednesday, 28 July 2021 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Audit: Standards

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of section 113(7) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015; and what plans they have, if any, to amend that legislation to tackle issues relating to reporting and non-compliance.

Answer

Section 113(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to publish their performance against the 30 day obligation to pay their suppliers within 30 days, together with details of interest payable/paid where they fail to do so. It does not place any obligations or responsibilities upon external auditors in the event of a reporting failure.

The Cabinet Office has included proposals in its Green Paper on Procurement Rules Reform to strengthen the reporting requirements of Section 113(7).

The proposals include legislating to align public and private sector reporting requirements and publishing public sector payment performance in a single location which will allow greater scrutiny and challenge of public sector payment performance.

The outcome of the consultation will be published in due course.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL2090
Session: 2021-22
Grouped for answer: Yes
Subjects: Audit Standards
Legislation: Public Contracts Regulations 2015; Public Contract Regulations 2015
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Audit: Standards

Secondary information

Librarians' tools