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To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce the Public Service Ombudsman Bill, as drafted in December 2016, to Parliament.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce the Public Service Ombudsman Bill, as drafted in December 2016, to Parliament.
The government has no plans at this time to introduce the 2016 Public Service Ombudsman Bill to Parliament. Whilst the government will consider specific proposals on Ombudsman reform we do not currently view more large scale Ombudsman reform as a priority for this Parliament.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of cyber attacks in each of the last five years on UK public sector organisations by a hostile state.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of cyber attacks in each of the last five years on UK public sector organisations by a hostile state.
Our National Cyber Strategy - launched in December 2021 - sets out how we will ensure that the UK continues to be a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in the rapidly evolving online world. This includes making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks, including ransomware attacks. The Strategy is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years.
Over the past five years, the National Cyber Security Centre has dealt with over 3300 significant cyber incidents affecting people and organisations across the UK:
590 in 2017,
557 in 2018,
658 in 2019,
723 in 2020, and;
777 in 2021.
The 2021 Cyber Security Breaches Survey shows the following percentage of businesses identified a cyber attack across the UK:
39% in 2021,
46% in 2020,
32% in 2019,
43% in 2018, and;
46% in 2017.
We are not in a position to be able to identify all cyber attacks, including ransomware attacks against UK companies, or attribute responsibility for every attack.
HMG continues its work with global partners to detect and disrupt cyber threats emanating from overseas. In December 2021, the UK held a G7 Senior Officials’ Forum on Ransomware to combat the threat, and the UK is taking a leading role in the international Counter Ransomware Initiative.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote measures to ensure the reliability of public services in protecting them from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote measures to ensure the reliability of public services in protecting them from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to protect public services from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to protect public services from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
Our National Cyber Strategy sets out how we will ensure that the UK remains a leading democratic cyber power, one that is more resilient to and is able to counter cyber threats.
Our Government Cyber Security Strategy (GCSS) will ensure that all government organisations across the whole public sector are resilient to cyber attack.
Both of these strategies are supported by £2.6 billion of taxpayer’s money over the next three years.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to protect public services from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to protect public services from the risk of hostile cyber threats.
Our new National Cyber Strategy, launched in December 2021(by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, HCWS484), sets out how we will ensure that the UK continues to be a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in the rapidly evolving online world. This includes our approach to making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks and countering cyber threats. The strategy is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cyber-strategy-2022/national-cyber-security-strategy-2022
A core component of our National Cyber Strategy is to further strengthen the cyber security of government and public services. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, launched in January 2022, will ensure that core government functions are resilient to cyber attack. This will be supported by an enhanced assurance regime to raise standards and a new Government Cyber Coordination Centre enabling departments to defend as one.The Government Cyber Security Strategy is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1049825/government-cyber-security-strategy.pdf
The delivery of both the National and Government strategies is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether products from the Malaysian company, ATA, in the UK’s public procurement supply chain are supplied through public sector contracts to Schneider Electric.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether products from the Malaysian company, ATA, in the UK’s public procurement supply chain are supplied through public sector contracts to Schneider Electric.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Information regarding products within the UK public sector supply chain is not held centrally.
This government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains.
The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focussing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The policy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0519-tackling-modern-slavery-in-government-supply-chains.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether products from the Malaysian company, ATA, are in the UK's public procurement supply chain.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether products from the Malaysian company, ATA, are in the UK's public procurement supply chain.
Details of Government contracts above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Information regarding products within the UK public sector supply chain is not held centrally.
This government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains.
The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focussing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The policy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0519-tackling-modern-slavery-in-government-supply-chains.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it his policy to support improved work-life balance as part of public services' recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it his policy to support improved work-life balance as part of public services' recovery from the covid-19 outbreak.
The Government has put the recovery of public services at the heart of its building back better and levelling up agenda. We are investing £3.7 billion to build 40 new hospitals and we’re investing a further £4.7 billion in the core school budget by 2024-25. There are almost 10,000 more nurses and over 5,100 doctors now working in the NHS compared to last year, and we have recruited over 11,000 police officers.
The Government’s 2019 manifesto committed to encourage flexible working and consult on making it the default unless employers have good reasons not to. Since then, COVID-19 has changed working practices for many and led to the recognition of the need for more flexible working hours to balance work with other personal commitments. The Government intends to build on what we have learnt and ran a consultation proposing to reform the existing Right to Request flexible working from September to December 2021. We are currently analysing responses and will issue a formal Government response in due course.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
When the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform public procurement.
In December 2020, we published the Government’s response to the consultation on the Green Paper on “Transforming Public Procurement”. We intend to bring forward these detailed and ambitious legislative proposals when parliamentary time allows. The reforms will make it easier for buyers to take account of previous poor performance by suppliers, which is an important factor in deciding whether to award contracts, and there will be clearer and stronger rules about excluding suppliers that pose an unacceptable risk.
In December 2020, we published the Government’s response to the consultation on the Green Paper on “Transforming Public Procurement”. We intend to bring forward these detailed and ambitious legislative proposals when parliamentary time allows. The reforms will make it easier for buyers to take account of previous poor performance by suppliers, which is an important factor in deciding whether to award contracts, and there will be clearer and stronger rules about excluding suppliers that pose an unacceptable risk.
What steps he is taking to ensure that underperforming suppliers do not receive Government contracts.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his excellent question. As he knows, the Prime Minister is bringing forward some of the biggest reforms in decades in this country. One of them will be in procurement, which is worth £300 billion a year to our economy. We have seen underperformance and it is of course current Government policy to ensure that suppliers’ past performance in adhering to contracts is taken into account when awarding new contracts. Under the public contract regulations, contracting authorities can use selection criteria, but we will make across-the-board improvements and reforms in the procurement system. I know that my hon. Friend will look forward to that and its benefits.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his excellent question. As he knows, the Prime Minister is bringing forward some of the biggest reforms in decades in this country. One of them will be in procurement, which is worth £300 billion a year to our economy. We have seen underperformance and it is of course current Government policy to ensure that suppliers’ past performance in adhering to contracts is taken into account when awarding new contracts. Under the public contract regulations, contracting authorities can use selection criteria, but we will make across-the-board improvements and reforms in the procurement system. I know that my hon. Friend will look forward to that and its benefits.
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that answer. What action will he take to get contractors to supply the service for which they are contracted, rather than necessarily cancelling them? However, if they continue to underperform, what action will he take to cancel those contracts and get suppliers in who do the job properly?
The Conservative party is a party of free trade and a free economy. I do not know about the Labour party. We are improving procurement and thereby having a major effect on the economy. The hon. Member, like everyone else, will have to wait for the details of how the new rules will be implemented and how they will work, but, through a Green Paper, we have asked everyone to feed in their ideas and suggestions for detailed policies. Based on that, a Bill is currently being prepared for introduction to Parliament and I know that the hon. Member will look forward to that.
The Conservative party is a party of free trade and a free economy. I do not know about the Labour party. We are improving procurement and thereby having a major effect on the economy. The hon. Member, like everyone else, will have to wait for the details of how the new rules will be implemented and how they will work, but, through a Green Paper, we have asked everyone to feed in their ideas and suggestions for detailed policies. Based on that, a Bill is currently being prepared for introduction to Parliament and I know that the hon. Member will look forward to that.
The Government maintain buying standards for food and catering services. The relevant Select Committee, campaign groups such as Sustain, and Henry Dimbleby with his food plan have all made the point that those standards should be brought up to date. The shadow Chancellor has pledged that Labour will ensure that public bodies have to report on how much British produce they buy. What are the Government doing on that, or is it just open season for Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the rest?
I do not accept that characterisation of any technical breaches that may have occurred. If the hon. Member looks at the judgment, he will see that the
court ruled yesterday that the Government’s industry call to arms was open, transparent and justified in a time of national emergency. Actually, the court found that it was highly unlikely that the outcome would have been substantially different if a different assessment process had been followed.
I do not accept that characterisation of any technical breaches that may have occurred. If the hon. Member looks at the judgment, he will see that the
court ruled yesterday that the Government’s industry call to arms was open, transparent and justified in a time of national emergency. Actually, the court found that it was highly unlikely that the outcome would have been substantially different if a different assessment process had been followed.
Given that the Government’s VIP lane for personal protective equipment contracts has been ruled unlawful, will there be immediate publication of contracts after emergency procurement to restore faith in the system? It would help avoid having the Government hauled so embarrassingly through the courts.
I would appreciate it if the hon. Member wrote to me with that particular example. I know that companies in her constituency are ably supported by her and I would like to hear more about that example. She is right that companies across the United Kingdom provided support at a time of national emergency, and they should be thanked for that.
I would appreciate it if the hon. Member wrote to me with that particular example. I know that companies in her constituency are ably supported by her and I would like to hear more about that example. She is right that companies across the United Kingdom provided support at a time of national emergency, and they should be thanked for that.
During the pandemic, UK companies stepped up to the mark and changed production lines to meet our needs and increase our resilience. They were encouraged to think that they would get ongoing business for helping out during the PPE shortages. A local SME in my constituency invested more than £700,000 in automating its hand sanitiser production, but now finds that most of its UK Government Department customers have gone back to their original foreign suppliers. What will the Minister do to recognise the resilience that British firms provided, improve the uptake of British-made products by Government Departments and ensure that build back better is not just a slogan?
I do not accept that characterisation. The court found that we did not rely on referral to the high priority lane when awarding contracts in certain cases, but that it was a technical matter, and that we were open, transparent and justified in what we did. “Justified” is a key word. As for emergency procurement, that is perfectly routine. It happens all the time, every year, including outside pandemics for various reasons. That will have to continue, but we are looking, in a new procurement Bill, at different ways of proceeding.
I do not accept that characterisation. The court found that we did not rely on referral to the high priority lane when awarding contracts in certain cases, but that it was a technical matter, and that we were open, transparent and justified in what we did. “Justified” is a key word. As for emergency procurement, that is perfectly routine. It happens all the time, every year, including outside pandemics for various reasons. That will have to continue, but we are looking, in a new procurement Bill, at different ways of proceeding.
The shocking news this week that the Government broke the law by handing out contracts worth huge sums to those with political connections shows that cronyism is rife in the Tory party. When will all the emergency procurement procedures end and all the emergency covid contracts finally be published?
The short answer is yes. Thanks to the work of my noble friend Lord Agnew, who has been working on this matter for a considerable time, my hon. Friend can look forward to further progress.
The short answer is yes. Thanks to the work of my noble friend Lord Agnew, who has been working on this matter for a considerable time, my hon. Friend can look forward to further progress.
Frustratingly, pre-Brexit, “EU procurement rules” was always trotted out as a reason why local firms, local farms and others never got a look in when it came to local public service contracts. Post Brexit, will the Government take a proactive lead to support local procurement, which benefits local small businesses especially, as well as farmers and local food and drink producers? That would also help to reduce food miles.
The availability of an emergency mechanism for procurement existed prior to the pandemic. It has taken place under Governments of all political colours, and it will continue to take place occasionally. The contracts signed by Government with third parties are myriad, and there will frequently be circumstances of supply, or circumstances that relate to particular individual cases where emergency mechanisms have to apply. That is routine and it continues on a regular basis when it has to.
The availability of an emergency mechanism for procurement existed prior to the pandemic. It has taken place under Governments of all political colours, and it will continue to take place occasionally. The contracts signed by Government with third parties are myriad, and there will frequently be circumstances of supply, or circumstances that relate to particular individual cases where emergency mechanisms have to apply. That is routine and it continues on a regular basis when it has to.
The Government’s use of emergency procurement during the pandemic has raised concerns around the transparency of contracts, potential conflicts of interest and the unsuitability of suppliers. Nearly two years on, Government Departments
can still use those emergency regulations to bypass open competition and scrutiny. That is unacceptable, and it implies that Departments have failed to plan ahead to meet demand. Will the Minister explain why that has been allowed to continue?