§ Mr. CongdonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to take action under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988 against authorities who have subjected white collar professional work to competition; and if he will make a statement. [33153]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has today served notices under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988 on the London boroughs of Enfield and Hounslow, the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority and the metropolitan district of Barnsley setting 235W out his view that these authorities may have acted anti-competitively during competitions for legal services work. He has also served notices on the cities of Liverpool and Manchester setting out similar views in respect of construction-related services work.
Although the circumstances differ in each case, the most common grounds cited in the notices are: work was not packaged in a way which took proper account of the market's ability to provide the services, that tender documents did not indicate how much work was on offer, and that onerous conditions featured in some contracts.
They have four weeks in which to explain their actions in assigning work in-house after competitions against the private sector.