The Government believe that public procurement is a key lever for enabling the delivery of our missions. Effective procurement will allow the public sector to deliver better services for citizens. Our ambitious programme to make work pay will drive genuine value for money in procurement, and support organisations to create local jobs, skills and wealth. The new digital centre of Government will ensure procurement drives uptake of new digital technologies to improve our public services.
I thank the Minister for her answer. As she said, value for money is fundamental, but procurement can also be used strategically to ensure that growth opportunities and social benefits are felt across the country. What steps will the Government take to up the ambition in the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023, so we have the data, skills and digital tools to drive a more mission-driven and economically transformative commissioning and purchasing across the Government?
As my hon. Friend says, public procurement is a key lever for delivering improved standards in business and in achieving social value. It is one of the levers in making sure we are growing our economy and supporting good jobs, something I saw in local government where Labour councils made huge strides in delivering social value through procurement. The Government’s plan to make work pay sets out that ambitious programme to value organisations that create local jobs, skills and wealth, and treat their workers well and equally.
I join colleagues in welcoming the ministerial team to the Front Bench. The Government have made it clear that tackling waste in public procurement is a priority and that crony relationships will no longer define the awarding of contracts. Can the Minister reassure me and my constituents in Bolton North East that contracts will be awarded based on what is most cost-effective and on what is better for the public purse?
The Government have launched a fraud commissioner, whose role will be to look at what went wrong and make sure that we are learning those lessons. The VIP lanes and the issues that we saw previously cannot happen again. The new digital centre of Government, working closely with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will ensure that procurement and market engagement are used as effective tools to drive the uptake of new digital technologies and protect us against the kinds of thing that we saw previously.
As an NHS physiotherapist who worked during the covid-19 pandemic, I had the misfortune of witnessing at first hand how crony contracts resulted in wasted resources. Although those contracts may have been intended to reinforce the NHS during the unprecedented crisis, they did a disservice both to our NHS professionals and to patients. Will the Minister outline what tangible steps the Government are taking to avoid such a waste of resources in future and reassure the constituency of Dudley and the wider nation that the Government will take public spending seriously?
I thank my hon. Friend for her service during covid, and I thank all the health and care staff who risked their lives to protect us. Billions were spent on personal protective equipment that was unusable, overpriced or under-delivered. This Government are determined to learn those lessons and safeguard every pound of taxpayers’ money. I have met the Public Sector Fraud Authority and have set out our commitment to driving down fraud across Government. We are determined to learn the lessons from the work of the covid commissioner, who will report to Parliament.
I offer a warm welcome to the ministerial team. Constituents across Glastonbury and Somerton tell me that quality matters to them as much as value for money. Does the Minister agree that we must ensure that public procurement considers environmental and social factors as well as value for money?
Value for money is critical to this Government. We want to make sure that every pound of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. We are inheriting a perilous economic situation, and we need to invest in public services, but we also need to deliver social value, which includes workforce standards and environmental standards. That is how we deliver good growth.