It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

In the Green Paper, we propose embedding transparency by default throughout the commercial lifecycle, which will enable greater scrutiny of public procurement activity. Following the analysis of responses to the Green Paper consultation, the Government will table a Procurement Reform Bill which will be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny.

The Defence Command Paper has set out the Government's intent for defence capability and the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy sets out how we will work with industry to achieve this. We will continue proactively to publish information on MOD procurement, including the Annual Report and Accounts, and the Equipment Plan. The Government envisages that the Defence Select Committee will continue to be a focus for the parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence, while the Public Accounts Committee draws on the work of the National Audit Office to examine the value for money of Government projects, programmes and service delivery.

The Ministry of Defence is part of the Cabinet Office led programme seeking to reform the UK’s public procurement regime, with a proposal to rationalise the current Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations (DSPCR) within a new single, uniform set of rules for all contract awards.

As recognised in the Green Paper on Transforming Public Procurement, there may be a need to adopt different rules in specific sectors or to protect our national interest. We recognise the importance of transparency for demonstrating confidence in the integrity of the process and encouraging suppliers to participate in defence procurements, but no decisions have yet been taken on which new transparency procedures will apply to defence procurements.

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

We have no plans to publish a list of suppliers as there may be associated commercial implications. The Department has to consider the position of suppliers in terms of the recognition that disclosure of their names may damage the supplier’s reputation, affecting their competitive position and could have a potentially detrimental impact on their revenue. We also have no plans to publish the names of those who referred those companies as this would make it less likely that individuals would provide the Department with commercially sensitive information in the future and consequently undermine the ability of the Department to fulfil its commercial role.

Contract Award Notices and the contracts themselves have now been published for all personal protective equipment contracts awarded by the Department which contain the details of the supplier, the value of the contract and the items ordered under the contract.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

The Department continues to work closely with all operators and Network Rail to ensure that services are appropriate to passenger demand whilst responding to the challenges of COVID-19 and delivering value for the taxpayer. From 12 April, operators have increased provision to around 75 per cent of pre-pandemic service levels and targeted areas of potentially high demand. South Western Railway will increase its peak capacity to approximately 85 per cent of pre-pandemic service levels at the next timetable change on 16 May.

The Department believes that operators know their routes and passengers best. South Western Railway is therefore best placed to deploy its available train fleet to provide sufficient socially distanced capacity on each individual service and to make adjustments in response to any observed increase to passenger numbers using its services.

This expenditure refers to articles purchased for immediate relief of asylum seekers arriving in small boats, by providing warm and dry clothing which reduces the risk of hypothermia.

The government has no plans to legislate in this area and so will not publish a White Paper. The published Grants Functional Standard provides clear guidance, alongside Managing Public Money, on the use of grant funding, and is available to government departments and arm's length bodies. Decisions on the use of grants as a funding mechanism are carefully considered and informed by the purpose and expected outcomes of individual schemes.

There are well-established procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the legal framework governing public procurement, to enable contracting authorities to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances.

Indeed, being able to procure at speed has been critical in providing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.

We have issued further updated guidance, Procurement Policy Note – Procurement in an Emergency (PPN 01/21) reminding contracting authorities of the options available to them when undertaking procurements in an emergency

Along with the above, we have recently published detailed proposals for a new and improved regulatory regime for public procurement, taking advantage of new freedoms now that we have left the EU. While these proposals have long been in development, they include specific measures to strengthen transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle

The Government has published a statement on gov.uk following the National Audit Office report.

There are well-established procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the legal framework governing public procurement, to enable contracting authorities to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances.

Indeed, being able to procure at speed has been critical in providing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.

We have issued further updated guidance, Procurement Policy Note – Procurement in an Emergency (PPN 01/21) reminding contracting authorities of the options available to them when undertaking procurements in an emergency

Along with the above, we have recently published detailed proposals for a new and improved regulatory regime for public procurement, taking advantage of new freedoms now that we have left the EU. While these proposals have long been in development, they include specific measures to strengthen transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle

The Government has published a statement on gov.uk following the National Audit Office report.

There are well-established procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the legal framework governing public procurement, to enable contracting authorities to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances.

Indeed, being able to procure at speed has been critical in providing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.

We have issued further updated guidance, Procurement Policy Note – Procurement in an Emergency (PPN 01/21) reminding contracting authorities of the options available to them when undertaking procurements in an emergency

Along with the above, we have recently published detailed proposals for a new and improved regulatory regime for public procurement, taking advantage of new freedoms now that we have left the EU. While these proposals have long been in development, they include specific measures to strengthen transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle

The Government has published a statement on gov.uk following the National Audit Office report.

There are well-established procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the legal framework governing public procurement, to enable contracting authorities to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances.

Indeed, being able to procure at speed has been critical in providing the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However we have always made it clear that all contracts, including those designed to tackle coronavirus issues, must continue to achieve value for money for taxpayers, use good commercial judgement and the details of any awards made should be published in line with Government transparency guidelines.

We have issued further updated guidance, Procurement Policy Note – Procurement in an Emergency (PPN 01/21) reminding contracting authorities of the options available to them when undertaking procurements in an emergency

Along with the above, we have recently published detailed proposals for a new and improved regulatory regime for public procurement, taking advantage of new freedoms now that we have left the EU. While these proposals have long been in development, they include specific measures to strengthen transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle

The Government has published a statement on gov.uk following the National Audit Office report.

In its Green Paper on Transforming Public Procurement, the Government has proposed legislating to require all contracting authorities to publish procurement data throughout the commercial lifecycle in a format compliant with the Open Contracting Data Standard. This should include supplier identifiers and spend data. The Government’s response to the consultation will be published in due course.

The Type 26 construction programme is sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes to the delivery of equipment without unduly impacting the in-service dates of the ships.

The PM just raised the matter of the Welsh general election. In March last year, this United Kingdom Conservative Government intercepted a deal between Wales and the Roche pharmaceutical company for 5,000 daily covid tests, instructing the company to

“reserve all additional Covid tests”

to England. Those tests would have been crucial to saving thousands of lives in Wales. As we go to the polls next week, will the Prime Minister tell us why Welsh lives meant so little to him?

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is completely wrong in what he says about tests, but he is right about one thing, which is that Wales has made an amazing contribution to our national fightback—our UK fightback—against covid. It was incredible again to go to the Wockhardt factory in Wrexham. It is Wockhardt, working together with Oxford Biomedica, that has enabled us to roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that has made such a difference. I want to say a massive thank you, again, to those Welsh scientists and all those people working in that factory, because they have helped to save countless lives across the UK.

The Department is actively supporting the UK steel sector to ensure it is in the best position to benefit from future market opportunities, including domestic opportunities which are estimated to be worth £3.8 billion a year by 2030.

We have published a steel pipeline signalling upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure, which are estimated to require around 5 million tonnes of steel over the next decade.

We have established a new joint industry and BEIS Steel Procurement Taskforce (launched on 12 March) with the aim of working with the sector to promote the unique selling points of UK steel and explore how best to support and position the industry for success in forthcoming major public contracts.

We do not hold collated and validated data on the location within the United Kingdom where personal protective equipment (PPE) was manufactured. We have published the overall volume of PPE sourced from UK manufacturing for the three months from 1 December 2020 which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-protective-equipment-ppe-made-in-the-uk-as-at-1-december-2020