John Spellar – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will take steps to ensure that the House of Commons Commission’s purchasing policies support British (a) industry and (b) agriculture.

Tom Brake

The House of Commons procurement policies operate within the parameters set out by the UK Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

The House has a Sustainable Purchasing Policy which, amongst other things, requires contracts that are particularly suitable for SMEs to be highlighted as so being, contracts to be divided into lots and processes to be as simple and proportionate as possible to encourage SMEs to participate in our competitions. Further, the policy requires contracts that are suitable for Social Enterprises to be identified at an early stage and that market engaged to ensure their participation.

More generally, the House supports British industry and agriculture by:

• Purchasing our goods and services in a way that maximises the ability of SMEs, Social Enterprises and organisations with less bargaining power to win our contracts;
• Conducting open and competitive tender processes that are accessible to all British suppliers whether small, medium or large;
• Advertising our contracts on the UK Government procurement website Contracts Finder and the House’s own electronic procurement portal to ensure that there is maximum visibility of our contractual opportunities;
• Writing specifications of requirements that take into account domestic social, economic and environmental requirements.