Thursday Volume 691 25 March 2021 No. 197 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday 25 March 2021 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2021 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1035 25 MARCH 2021 1036 damaged in the eyes of their European customers and House of Commons suppliers. Can my right hon. Friend therefore inform the House what her Department is doing further to Thursday 25 March 2021 rectify such issues? What reassurances can she give these two particular businesses? The House met at half-past Nine o’clock Penny Mordaunt: I am very sorry to hear that the two businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency are suffering cash-flow issues as a result of, one assumes, goods PRAYERS coming out of customs controls and being then exported back into the EU. The Department for Environment, [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Food and Rural Affairs and the devolved Administrations have set up the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Virtual participation in proceedings commenced Group, which is looking at these issues, but I would be (Orders, 4 June and 30 December 2020). happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the precise [NB: [V] denotes a Member participating virtually.] issues those companies are facing to see what further we can do in the interim while these things are resolved. BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS Government Contracts: Small Businesses NEW WRITS Robbie Moore (Keighley) (Con): What steps the Ordered, Government are taking to increase the opportunities That the Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the for small businesses to bid for Government contracts. Crown to make out a New Writ for the electing of a Member to [913890] serve in this present Parliament for the Borough Constituency of Hartlepool in the room of Michael Robert Hill, who since his Julie Marson (Hertford and Stortford) (Con): What election for the said Borough Constituency has been appointed to steps the Government are taking to increase the the Office of Steward and Bailiff of Her Majesty’s Three Chiltern opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham in the County of contracts. [913894] Buckingham.—(Mr Nicholas Brown.) Ordered, Elliot Colburn (Carshalton and Wallington) (Con): That, on the sixth day of April 2021, the Speaker do issue his What steps the Government are taking to increase the Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a New Writ for opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government the electing of a Member to serve in this present Parliament for contracts. [913899] the County Constituency of Airdrie and Shotts in the room of Neil Charles Gray, who since his election for the said County Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con): Constituency has been appointed to the Office of Steward and What steps the Government are taking to increase the Bailiff of Her Majesty’s Manor of Northstead in the County of opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government York.—(Owen Thompson.) contracts. [913906] Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con): Oral Answers to Questions What steps the Government is taking to increase the opportunities for small businesses to bid for Government contracts. [913909] CABINET OFFICE The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Julia Lopez): Each year,the Government spend some £290 billion on public procurement. Now that the EU transition The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister period has ended, we aim to make it simpler, quicker for the Cabinet Office was asked— and cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for Government contracts, as set out in our ambitious Food and Animal Products: Trade to the EU procurement Green Paper. Wereceived over 600 responses to that consultation and the submission from the Federation Nick Fletcher (Don Valley) (Con): What steps his of Small Businesses welcomed our drive to simplify and Department is taking to ensure the flow of trade of diversify public procurement. food and animal products to the EU. [913889] Robbie Moore: Across Keighley and Ilkley, we have The Paymaster General (Penny Mordaunt): Overall some of the finest small to medium-sized businesses traffic flow at UK ports has now stabilised. The which are passionate about the products they produce Government have helped exporters to meet new and the services they offer. Many are hungry for growth requirements and also worked with EU border control and expansion opportunities—I think of Wyedean Weaving, posts to ensure that any issues are quickly resolved. which is based in the Worth Valley. However, sometimes small businesses feel disadvantaged in comparison to Nick Fletcher [V]: World Feeds Ltd in Thorne and larger businesses when it comes to bidding and being FourFriends Pet Food in Dunsville, both in Don Valley, selected for Government contracts. Can my hon. Friend are having issues importing and exporting pet food outline what her Department is doing to ensure that products between the UK and the EU. It pains me to there is no disparity in the process and that small know that two businesses in my constituency are seeing businesses have just as much chance of being selected as their cash flow severely disrupted and their reputation larger businesses? 1037 Oral Answers 25 MARCH 2021 Oral Answers 1038 Julia Lopez: I thank my hon. Friend for his question, implementation have the skills that they need to take and I know that businesses in Keighley will really advantage of the opportunities that small businesses appreciate what a great champion he is for their interests. are creating? We are doing a range of things within our new measures. We want to slash 350-plus regulations and put this into Julia Lopez: My hon. Friend raises a very important a single uniform framework. We want to do things such point. Along with our procurement reforms, the Cabinet as reserve contracts below a certain threshold for SMEs, Office has also created a new Central, Digital And Data be able to discriminate by virtue of geography and Office under expert leadership, and through that, we divide contracts up into smaller lots. There is much want to improve digital capability and expertise across more that I can talk to him about if he is interested in Government. We also want to create many more this subject. opportunities for tech start-ups and other dynamic digital SMEs to bid for Government work, and the Julie Marson [V]: I thank my hon. Friend for her CDDO team is closely engaged in how we can do that response. Alongside wonderful small businesses, does through the forthcoming procurement Bill. the Cabinet Office also look at venture capital companies to enable Government Departments to have the opportunity to support and benefit from our brilliant, innovative Civil Service: Location of Jobs venture businesses? Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op): What Julia Lopez: We are looking all the time at how we plans he has to move civil service jobs to York. [913891] innovate in public procurement. Some of my hon. Friend’s query might be better addressed by the Department for Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con): What steps the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy or Her Majesty’s Government are taking to deliver civil service jobs Treasury, but we hope that the improvements that we outside London. [913901] are proposing will open up many more opportunities to SMEs. She might also be interested in existing programmes Sarah Atherton (Wrexham) (Con): What steps the such as the small business research initiative, which Government are taking to deliver civil service jobs funds organisations to conduct challenge-based R&D outside London. [913903] to develop products or services that address a specific unmet public sector need. Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con): What steps the Elliot Colburn [V]: I thank the Minister for her response. Government are taking to move civil service jobs from May I invite her to come and visit Carshalton and London to Lincolnshire. [913915] Wallington post pandemic to meet some of the small and medium-sized businesses that are keen to bid for The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister Government contracts, to hear their concerns about the for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove): As the Chancellor process and to encourage more to look at opportunities of the Duchy of Lancaster, naturally, my heart is always to do so? in the north-west of England. However, I am delighted that more civil service jobs will be moving to York. I am Julia Lopez: I would be very happy to do so. My hon. also delighted that other Departments have made their Friend understands that the Government have tremendous own announcements about the relocation of senior buying power, which we think we can use to drive the positions in our civil service, with the Ministry of Housing, recovery. We want to use our procurement reforms to Communities and Local Government announcing plans open up many more opportunities to SMEs. We are to create a second headquarters in Wolverhampton, the doing that in a range of ways, which I have discussed, Treasury creating an economic campus in Darlington, but we also have a new social value model, which alongside the Department for International Trade, and, explicitly allows greater weight to be given to those bids of course, DIT has established trade and investment that will help to drive the post-covid economic recovery. hubs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Cabinet Office has also announced that our second Sir David Evennett [V]: The economic success of our headquarters will be located in Glasgow, with 500 officials country depends on small and medium-sized businesses to be located there, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and their enterprise and entrepreneurial skills.