Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Public Procurement: Value for Money

Thursday 23 November 2023 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Value for money is central to the Government's procurement policy as set out in "Managing Public Money".
  • The Government have taken steps to recover fraud money during the covid period, with HMRC committed to recovery efforts.
  • The Government are committed to reducing fraud in the covid loan schemes, allocating 13.2 million over three years.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 James Murray Labour (Co-op) Ealing North
Business & Trade
Context

The question addresses the importance of ensuring value for money in public procurement and seeks steps taken by the government with cabinet colleagues to achieve this.

Question

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure value for money in public procurement. Value for money is central to the Government's long-standing procurement policy, as set out in “Managing Public Money”. Current procurement regulations require contracting authorities to select the most economically advantageous tender.

Answer from Alex Burghart

Value for money is central to the Government's long-standing procurement policy, as set out in “Managing Public Money”. Current procurement regulations require contracting authorities to select the most economically advantageous tender. The Procurement Act 2023—recently received Royal Assent—will streamline procurement processes and ensure that value for money remains one of the central tenets of the UK's procurement regime.

Answered
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Q2 Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett
Taxation
Context

The question highlights the loss of billions in taxpayers' money due to flawed contracts during the COVID pandemic and seeks details on government plans to recover this lost public funding.

Question

If every pound of taxpayers' money matters, what are the Government's plans to recover the loss of billions of pounds in flawed covid contracts? The Government have already taken extraordinary steps to recover fraud money during the covid period. His Majesty's Revenue and Customs remains committed to the recovery of covid-19 support scheme fraud.

Answer from Alex Burghart

The Government have already taken extraordinary steps to recover fraud money during the covid period. His Majesty's Revenue and Customs remains committed to the recovery of covid-19 support scheme fraud. The Government are also committed to bearing down on fraud in the covid loan schemes. £13.2 million has been allocated to the National Investigation Service over three years to double its investigative capacity on bounce back loans and fund other activities.

Answered
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Q3 James Murray Labour (Co-op) Ealing North
NHS Standards & Ethics
Context

The question builds on the previous discussion about recovering billions in flawed COVID contracts and proposes a Labour plan for a covid corruption commissioner to pursue recovery of such funds.

Question

Billions of pounds of public money was wasted during the covid pandemic through dodgy contracts that we know were signed off by the Government. Labour has said that they will appoint a covid corruption commissioner to pursue every pound of public money that has been inappropriately lost from pandemic-related contracts, fraud and waste. Will the Minister borrow their plans? The House should note that the Government already set out the public sector fraud authority last year, which is based in the Cabinet Office.

Answer from Alex Burghart

The Government have already set out the public sector fraud authority last year, which is based in the Cabinet Office and very ably handled by my colleague Baroness Neville-Rolfe. We are committed to bearing down on fraud in covid loan schemes with £13.2 million allocated over three years to double investigative capacity on bounce back loans.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Labour plan for a covid corruption commissioner was not addressed directly.

How: We Already Have Public Sector Fraud Authority

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Q4 Greg Clark Con
Economy Science & Technology
Context

The question focuses on how artificial intelligence can play a role in making savings in public sector budgets to address the impact of inflation, as announced by the Chancellor.

Question

It is clear from the Chancellor's autumn statement that we will need to make savings in public sector budgets for some years to come to overcome the impact of inflation. Can the Minister say how artificial intelligence will play a role in this and what efforts he is making to procure necessary systems?

Answer from Alex Burghart

Artificial intelligence can speed up Government processes, improve productivity and deliver value for money. Procurement frameworks help Departments identify good AI systems to secure. The Deputy Prime Minister announced hiring more people with high levels of innovative skill to build AI systems in government.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific efforts on procurement of necessary AI systems were not detailed.

How: We Are Still Coming To Terms With The Potential

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