Category: Speeches

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Brandon Lewis

This Government procures on the basis of value for money. Departments and the Crown Commercial Service will ensure that social, economic and sustainability issues are considered in procurement projects and that specifications, terms and conditions and evaluation criteria are developed to ensure that the relevant issues are addressed as appropriate for the subject matter of the requirements.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 September 2013, Official Report, Column 33WS, on the Government response to the public sector equality duty review, there is clear evidence of equality and diversity policies going too far in the other direction, by imposing unreasonable and expensive burdens on organisations bidding for public sector contracts. The Government has committed to reducing procurement gold-plating by the public sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the Sunderland local authority area and (c) the North East region are receiving less overall funding in 2013-14 than they did in 2010-11.

Mr David Laws

Because of the significant changes in the school funding system between financial years 2010-11 and 2013-14, it is not possible to provide meaningfully-comparable data on funding to individual schools in the two years. In addition, the amount of funding a school receives will change from year to year depending on the number of pupils registered at the school as well as the schools funding formula determined by the local authority, the arrangements for which were reformed in 2013-14 to comprise 12 nationally-consistent factors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of staff within his Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Dr Daniel Poulter

Detailed information which specifically identifies dismissals following formal disciplinary proceedings is not held for this full period. The Department publishes workforce information on the .GOV website, which includes figures for staff that have left the Department.

From 1 April 2013 changes have been made to how leaving reasons are recorded on the internal Human Resources System. For the financial year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 14% of staff who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings were white British and for a further 14% ethnic origin is not recorded on the internal HR system as declaration of ethnicity is voluntary for staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Simon Hughes

The Ministry of Justice is committed to promoting equality and diversity in its procurements. Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 outlines the Public Sector Equality Duty. The following three duties which form the basis of Departments’ policy and to which due regard must be given during the procurement process:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act;

2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The level of due regard given to the three duties will vary depending on their relevance to each individual procurement. There will be greater significance for example where the procurement involves direct contact with the public or employees of the Department or where services are to be carried out in the Department’s premises.

Where a need to consider equality has been identified at the beginning of a procurement process, consideration to this is given at every stage of the process as detailed below:

· Planning and preparation includes the consideration of whether the duties are relevant to the procurement.

· The Pre-Qualification stage of the tender process contains mandatory fields including questions to make sure that the bid is in line with legislation. Suppliers that do not pass these questions are not progressed onto the next stage.

· The Request for Information and Request for Quotation contain questions in line with legislation. These question are proportionate so as not to disadvantage smaller suppliers.

· The evaluation of tenders can include equality criteria if it formed part of the specification. However, if included, the criteria are given proportionate consideration to the bid as a whole.

· Contract award where the specification set out equality criteria can be used to determine the most economically advantageous tender

· Ongoing consideration is given to the equality duties in every review meeting for those relevant contracts.

In addition to these processes implemented during the procurement process, the Department reports annually its obligations to the Cabinet Office. All procurement staff within the Department are required to undertake mandatory Equality and Diversity Training which makes sure that the duty can be considered and applied correctly.