Does the Minister agree that one of the great failures of this Government has been their inability to check the quality of private companies engaged to deliver our people’s public services? Has that not been one of the fatal policy weaknesses of this Government?

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester South on 9 March 2015 to UIN: 225908,225907,225925,225926

Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has been working to overhaul the way Government runs its procurement. At the time of the 2010 General Election there were extensive barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, and overall procurement was run in far too bureaucratic a way

We have worked to make the bidding process simpler and to increase the visibility of all contract opportunities on the Contracts Finder website. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts.These actions will make it easier for all suppliers, including ethnic minority businesses, to secure public procurement contracts.

Figures for central government's spend with SMEs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-spends-114-billion-with-smes. We recently announced that overall spend in 2013/14 was an unprecedented £11.4 billion - 26.1% of direct and indirect spend - above the aspiration we set for this Parliament of 25%.

The Cabinet Office does not hold information centrally on the ethnic origins of business owners.

Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has been working to overhaul the way Government runs its procurement. At the time of the 2010 General Election there were extensive barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, and overall procurement was run in far too bureaucratic a way

We have worked to make the bidding process simpler and to increase the visibility of all contract opportunities on the Contracts Finder website. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts.These actions will make it easier for all suppliers, including ethnic minority businesses, to secure public procurement contracts.

Figures for central government's spend with SMEs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-spends-114-billion-with-smes. We recently announced that overall spend in 2013/14 was an unprecedented £11.4 billion - 26.1% of direct and indirect spend - above the aspiration we set for this Parliament of 25%.

The Cabinet Office does not hold information centrally on the ethnic origins of business owners.

Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has been working to overhaul the way Government runs its procurement. At the time of the 2010 General Election there were extensive barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, and overall procurement was run in far too bureaucratic a way

We have worked to make the bidding process simpler and to increase the visibility of all contract opportunities on the Contracts Finder website. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts.These actions will make it easier for all suppliers, including ethnic minority businesses, to secure public procurement contracts.

Figures for central government's spend with SMEs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-spends-114-billion-with-smes. We recently announced that overall spend in 2013/14 was an unprecedented £11.4 billion - 26.1% of direct and indirect spend - above the aspiration we set for this Parliament of 25%.

The Cabinet Office does not hold information centrally on the ethnic origins of business owners.

Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has been working to overhaul the way Government runs its procurement. At the time of the 2010 General Election there were extensive barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, and overall procurement was run in far too bureaucratic a way

We have worked to make the bidding process simpler and to increase the visibility of all contract opportunities on the Contracts Finder website. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts.These actions will make it easier for all suppliers, including ethnic minority businesses, to secure public procurement contracts.

Figures for central government's spend with SMEs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-spends-114-billion-with-smes. We recently announced that overall spend in 2013/14 was an unprecedented £11.4 billion - 26.1% of direct and indirect spend - above the aspiration we set for this Parliament of 25%.

The Cabinet Office does not hold information centrally on the ethnic origins of business owners.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect on 26 February. They will provide a much more modern, flexible and commercial approach compared to the previous regime. Outdated and superfluous constraints have been removed, and many new reforms have been included to streamline and modernise public procurement.

We have also introduced further measures to remove barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises. Together, these will make it easier for all suppliers to bid for and win public procurement contracts.

The new measures will increase the visibility of low-value contract opportunities and make the bidding process quicker and simpler across the wider public sector. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts. Everyone in the supply chain must comply with 30-day payment terms, including suppliers and sub-contractors, and public bodies must publish an annual late payment report, making their accountability more transparent.

For a range of services that are commonly delivered by public service mutuals (such as social and cultural services) commissioners will also have the option of using a ‘mutuals reservation’. This grants public bodies the ability to limit competition to mutuals and social enterprises that meet the tests set out in the directive. This means many mutuals will be able to win their initial contract without having to compete with more established players, allowing them to establish and grow as a business during their first 3 years.

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

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

The Government is committed to the introduction of electronic invoicing across the public sector. The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill includes clauses that will enable Ministers to make regulations on the acceptance of e-invoices by public bodies.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect on 26 February. They will enable authorities to run procurements that are faster, less costly and more effective.

During 2014, the Crown Commercial Service provided training on the new directives to more than 4,000 procurement officials.

Further information, including guidance and training material can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/transposing-eu-procurement-directives

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect on 26 February. They will enable authorities to run procurements that are faster, less costly and more effective.

During 2014, the Crown Commercial Service provided training on the new directives to more than 4,000 procurement officials.

Further information, including guidance and training material can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/transposing-eu-procurement-directives

The Government Procurement Policy Note 09/12 ‘Taking Account of Bidders’ Past Performance’, issued in November 2012, applies to all departments.

This Government is committed to transparency and, since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on contracts above the value of £10,000. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

All payments made by the Cabinet Office over £25,000 are published on data.gov.uk

The central Government’s direct spend with small businesses increased from 6.5% in 2009-10 to 10.5% in 2012-13, and small and medium-sized enterprises have benefited from a further 9.4% of indirect spend through the supply chain in that same year. I shall be publishing figures for 2013-14 shortly. We have moved a long way towards our ambition and aspiration that a quarter of Government procurement should be with SMEs.

What change there has been in the proportion of government procurement made through small businesses and the voluntary sector since May 2010.

What steps have the Government taken to make public procurement simpler, especially for small and micro-businesses on the Isle of Wight?

Reading through the UK Statistics Authority booklet, I am struck by the number of times

that the Government have been rebuked for giving false information in their statements. The Prime Minister is twice rebuked for giving the wrong facts about the debt, with him saying that it is falling when it has in fact been rising. Could the Cabinet Office get together with the UK Statistics Authority and agree to deal with facts, rather than fiction, in Government statements for the next three months?

Today’s National Audit Office report on late payment says that the Government’s policy to pay invoices more quickly risks boosting the working capital of the main contractors rather than benefiting small businesses down the supply chain. Why then did the Government on three separate occasions refuse to

adopt amendments I tabled ensuring small businesses all the way down the supply chain would have been paid on time?

Given his laudable aims to improve access to Government contracts for small business, is the right hon. Gentleman as disappointed as I am about revelations in The Independent today that Capita faces allegations of using a major Government contract to short-change small companies, forcing many out of business? He described this contract as a model of how to open up the public sector, yet it has catastrophically failed. Given his championing of the Maude awards for failure, will this contract be a winner of such an award, and what lessons has he learned from this contract?