§ Andrew SelousTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the schemes administered by(a) his Department and (b) its agencies where funds are allocated by a competitive bidding process; and what was the amount of money allocated to each scheme. [19732]
§ Mr. Nicholas Brown[holding answer 3 December 2001]: The Department does not itself administer schemes where funds are allocated by a competitive bidding process. It does submit bids for funds under schemes administered by the Treasury, such as the Invest to Save or Capital Modernisation Fund. The Department also uses the competitive bidding process to secure value for money in procuring goods and services from external suppliers. It is normal departmental policy to obtain competitive bids for all procurements valued at £500 or more. This policy results in thousands of procurement exercises where funds are paid to successful suppliers. Listing these exercises would incur disproportionate cost.