Wednesday Volume 594 25 March 2015 No. 132 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday 25 March 2015 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2015 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1413 25 MARCH 2015 1414 Mr Wilson: In 2010, the Government set an aspiration House of Commons that by 2015 25% of Government procurement spend by value should go to SMEs directly and into the supply chain. In fact, we have exceeded our target, and a record Wednesday 25 March 2015 26.1% is now being spent with SMEs. That is a record to be proud of, and a tribute to my right hon. Friend the The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con): PRAYERS May I congratulate my hon. Friend on all the measures that he and his colleagues have taken on this subject? I know that four businesses in my constituency are currently [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] benefiting from their measures. Mr Wilson: I know my hon. Friend is a great champion of small businesses in his constituency. One of the Oral Answers to Questions wider benefits of this programme of commercial reform is that it enabled the Government to make the huge saving of £15 billion in the years 2010 to 2014. As I say, that is a lasting tribute to my right hon. Friend. CABINET OFFICE Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab): The Minister The Minister for the Cabinet Office was asked— might confess that it would help if he bought enough desks for civil servants. In answer to 11 parliamentary Public Procurement: Small Businesses questions, Whitehall Departments have told me that they have more civil servants than desks. In the Department 1. Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD): What for Transport, there are 6,600 officials and 1,500 desks. steps he is taking to support small businesses through This sounds more like musical chairs than hot desking. public procurement. [908307] Is it the cause of all the chaos and confusion in this Government? 7. Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab): What steps he is taking to improve access to Government Mr Wilson: I am not quite sure whether that is a procurement by small and medium-sized enterprises. serious question, because all modern companies and [908313] the modern civil service should be hot desking, which is exactly what is taking place. The Minister for Civil Society (Mr Rob Wilson): Over the past five years, we have implemented a wide range of Building Workers: Shrewsbury measures to open up the way we do business to make sure that small companies are in the best possible position 2. Mr David Anderson (Blaydon) (Lab): If he will to compete for contracts. These measures include increasing expedite the review of papers held on people convicted transparency, making opportunities more accessible, in 1973 in relation to alleged incidents during the national removing unnecessary bureaucracy, improving payment building workers’ strike at building sites in the Shrewsbury terms and clamping down on poor practice. area so that the review is completed as soon as possible. [908308] Greg Mulholland: I thank the Minister for that answer. He will be aware of the report of the Public Administration The Minister for Government Policy and Chancellor of Committee that showed that at the time not enough was the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr Oliver Letwin): Yes. being done. Does he accept that there still needs to be a real culture change in the civil service to open up Mr Anderson: I am very grateful for that answer, and Government procurement to small and medium-sized I wish I believed it. Sadly, it was confirmed in a debate enterprises? yesterday afternoon that despite this House overwhelmingly agreeing on 23 January last year that the papers would Mr Wilson: We have obviously made a lot of progress be released—and that Ministers would assist in getting and there is more to do, but we intend to extend and the papers released—they have not been. The campaign embed the reforms that we have made over the past five has consistently met blockages. I am calling on the years. I would just remind my hon. Friend that at the Minister to bring forward the release of these papers as last general election, only 6.5% of direct central Government quickly as possible and to stop the 43-year cover-up, procurement spend was with smaller businesses, and we which will see innocent men going to their graves as had no idea how much was spent in the supply chain, so convicted criminals to protect the Tory Ministers of we have made huge progress. 40 years ago. It is a disgrace. Mr Bain: The Minister omitted to say in his answer Mr Letwin: I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is that nine out of 17 Departments spent less with SMEs unaware of the actual situation. The review of which he in 2013-14 than they did in 2012-13. With just 10% of speaks is under way at present, but the papers—and the Government contracts going to small businesses, why particular parts of those papers that were kept back on have this Government been so poor when it comes to security grounds—have all been given to the Criminal procurement from our SME sector? Cases Review Commission, which has looked at them 1415 Oral Answers25 MARCH 2015 Oral Answers 1416 and is using them in the course of its review. There is no right hon. Friend, on the occasion of his final Cabinet question of any injustice of the kind he describes occurring Office questions, accept my congratulations on the fantastic as a result of the lack of those papers being present. I, revolution in public services that he has led over the however, assure the hon. Gentleman that if I find past five years? myself in my current post after the election, I shall seek to expedite the review. Mr Maude: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those kind words. There has been a great success with the Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD): The hon. Member Government Digital Service, which the Washington Post for Blaydon (Mr Anderson) asked a serious question. has hailed, stating that the UK has set This was an establishment stitch-up 42 years ago, and for 42 years it has been an establishment cover-up. Does “the gold standard of digital government”. the Minister not realise that there cannot possibly be The Obama Administration and the Australian Government any state security reasons why the records of an industrial have created their own analogous organisations, explicitly dispute should not be made public? modelled on what we have done. Mr Letwin: My hon. Friend is also suffering from a misconception. The bulk of the papers involved were Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD): I do not know released. The bits that were not released relate to security what the Minister is eating for breakfast this week, but and make specific references to the security services and you do not seem to be able to keep him down, Mr Speaker their activities. Those are being reviewed, and a decision —I half expect him to announce a U-turn on his will be made. He is absolutely right that the crucial intended retirement before the week is out. point is that the people involved deserve justice, so the Is not the secret success of the Government Digital CCRC needs to see the unexpurgated version, and it Service the confidence that it has given Departments to has. It has been given full sight of all the papers. develop solutions in-house with an agility that was simply impossible in the days of lengthy contractual Lisa Nandy (Wigan) (Lab): It is increasingly clear negotiations with large IT companies? that there is simply no justification for the delay in the review or for the refusal to release the full papers about Mr Maude: My hon. Friend is completely right. the case. The Minister may refuse to act, but a Labour From a time when British government was synonymous Government will act. We will release those papers with with failed IT projects, we have moved to being the the urgency that the situation demands. Justice delayed world leader in digital government. There is still a huge is justice denied. Why is he so determined to ignore the amount more to do, but I am grateful to him for his will of Parliament, ignore the public and ignore the support for our work. urgency of the situation, and why will he not release the papers now? Trade Unions Mr Letwin: I am sorry that the shadow Minister wrote that question before she heard my previous answers. 4. Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) If, as I hope she will not, she finds herself a Minister (Con): What savings have accrued to the public purse ON. after the election and has to make this decision—[H from the Government’s reforms to trade union facility MEMBERS: “Hear, hear.”] If she finds herself in that time. [908310] position, I hope that she will discover the truth, which I have already told the House—that the CCRC has already seen the papers, so there is no question of justice being The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster either delayed or denied. General (Mr Francis Maude): At the time of the last general election, there was no proper monitoring of Government Digital Service trade union facility time in government.