§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they will take to make it easier for small businesses to bid for and win public sector contracts. [HL5101]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThis month the Government responded positively to the recent reportGovernment: Supporter and Customer by the Better Regulation Task Force/Small Business Council (BRTF/SBC). This report made 11 recommendations in the area of public sector procurement with the aim of creating a level playing field for SMEs to compete against large companies for contracts.
The BRTF/SBC recommendations are being piloted through two SME procurement schemes—one in the West Midlands area and a second in the London Borough of Haringey. In the West Midlands, the Office of Government Commerce is working closely with the RDA (Advantage West Midlands), the Government Office for the Region, the Small Business Service and other government and regional partners. In Haringey, the pilot is being led by the Small Business Service, working with Trade Local, an award winning initiative of the borough council and its partners to promote a more open commercial relationship between local government and local businesses. It is intended that these pilots will implement, in a controlled way, many of the recommendations of the BRTF/SBC report and inform government of the most effective ways of assisting small businesses in this area.
The Small Business Service also co-ordinates the small business research initiative (SBRI). This initiative has the aims of stimulating demand for research and development from SMEs along with the creation of new market research. The government departments involved with the SBRI have an aim to buy at least 2.5 per cent of their R&D requirements from SMEs during the project.