§ Mr. GunnellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions advice from the single market compliance unit has led to a United Kingdom company successfully challenging a contract originally awarded to a company based in another member state of the European Union.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe single market compliance unit and other parts of Government have provided guidance to 15W many companies on EC public purchasing procedures. Companies do not usually report back to us unless they face subsequent difficulty. We therefore do not know to what extent Government advice has enabled United Kingdom firms successfully to challenge public sector contracts originally awarded to companies from other member states.