Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will initiate an open tender process for the activities previously contracted through an annual grant to Action on Smoking and Health before he awards any further such grants.

Nicola Blackwood

A grant of £160,000 has been awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) for financial year 2016/17 and a copy of the signed award letter, including the detailed deliverables of the grant, is attached.

Grants made under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 can be made in a number of ways. The grant awarded to ASH has been assessed as most appropriate for the non-competed route.

The Department received a complaint about the deliverables of the 2015/16 grant awarded to ASH in June this year. The Department responded to the complainant, confirming it was satisfied that none of the deliverables were in breach of the provisions of Section 64.