As I stated on 24 February at Oral Answers to Questions (Hansard Volume 709, Column 440), I have received over 1,800 recommendations from members of the public in response to my requests to readers of The Sun and The Sunday Express.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4099", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North East Somerset"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-03-31", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-03-31T13:03:19.05Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "53"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-03-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "EU Law"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of the public have contacted his Department to request the abolition of any EU regulations to date.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/413", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Hilary Benn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Leeds Central"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Hilary Benn"} ], "uin" : "148056"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1282880", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Cabinet Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1282880/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This Government recognises that outsourcing is an important component in a \u201cmixed economy\u201d of public service provision and that the private sector has played a crucial role in the country\u2019s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including in relation to the development and procurement of the Government\u2019s world-leading vaccine programme. Under the terms of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, departments and other public authorities are able to use various applicable procedures. Public authorities across the United Kingdom including the devolved administrations and local authorities have made use of direct awards - this includes Leeds City Council. Similar approaches were adopted by many other countries, including Japan, Finland and New Zealand. It is unrealistic to suggest that the government ought to have run a full public procurement competition for PPE and other critical contracts at the height of the pandemic. The minimum number of days a competitive award could take place under the current rules is 25 days. This would have hugely slowed down the buying of vital PPE supplies.<\/p>
Further to the Outsourcing Playbook, available on gov.uk, and as has been the case under successive administrations, public sector contracting authorities are responsible for their own commercial decisions, such as the award and monitoring of contracts. Regarding cyber security, details of the Cyber Essentials scheme is available on gov.uk. The requested information on service credits is not held centrally.<\/p>
I note that the Hon Member has not yet replied to the letter by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of 20 November 2020. As a courtesy, I will ensure that a further copy of the letter is sent to her office to ensure she has a chance to reply to the points raised.<\/p>
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