| answer text |
<p>The Corporate Covenant provides an excellent opportunity for businesses and other
organisations to declare their support for members of the Armed Forces community.
To date, across the UK, more than 590 companies have pledged their support and the
number is growing steadily. The Secretary of State for Defence has written to the
FTSE 350 companies to challenge them to sign the Corporate Covenent.</p><p>European
Union (EU) procurement law does not permit the contract award procedure or any contract
condition to discriminate against any supplier in the EU. An obligation to sign up
and fulfil the Corporate Covenant is likely to disadvantage suppliers outside the
UK, although we encourage potential suppliers to sign up to the pledge in every invitation
to tender we issue. This is a voluntary approach that allows each organisation to
reach their own decisions about the level of support they provide.</p>
|
 |
