§ 43. Mr. John Townendasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has as to the proportion of purchasing contracts from central and local government received by small firms.
§ Mr. TrippierRecords are not kept on the proportion of Government procurement contracts that go to small firms. However, the Ministry of Defence is currently collecting information on the value of its direct contracts placed with small and medium-sized firms in the present financial year. Local authorities are responsible for their own purchasing. I am not aware of any systematic information available on the proportion of their purchasing contracts received by small firms.