§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure that when putting contracts out to tender his Department includes on the tender list companies which have acquired the BS5750 quality assurance standard.
§ Mr. KeyMost of my Department's contracts are placed with the road construction industry.
Several firms within the industry have already introduced recognised quality management schemes on a voluntary basis but the number to have done so is not yet sufficient to ensure proper competition if such schemes were mandatory.
For that reason it is not yet a departmental requirement that firms invited to tender for roadworks contracts must have such schemes in place.
However, my Department is working towards the gradual introduction of quality management requirements within the framework of BS5750. As a first step, we are proposing to introduce quality plans for individual contracts starting next year.