§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Industry what arrangements there are in his Department to ensure that the Government's policy towards small firms is furthered through the procurement policy of his Department so that small businesses receive a proportion of all purchasing contracts issued by his Department; and what proportion he expects this will be in 1982–83.
§ Mr. MacGregorIn accordance with the Government's public purchasing policy my Department's suppliers are selected on merit, irrespective of company size. We shall, however, be applying the new measures to simplify tendering and approval procedures for small firms which I announced on 26 November, the implementation of which is now being pursued. A large proportion of my Department's contracts have an individual value of under £20,000 and could therefore be suitable for smaller firms. However the Department does not keep records of the size of firms to which contracts are awarded. For this reason it is not possible to estimate the proportion of contracts likely to be awarded to small firms in 1982–83.