§ Mr. David MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make all companies which supply Scottish Office and local authorities meet and attain BS5750 standards; and if he will make a statement. [32606]
§ Mr. Raymond S. RobertsonMy Department is very conscious of the importance of a range of quality issues and gives these due weight in reaching procurement decisions. It is for the supplier to determine the quality management system to be used in providing goods or services, and my Department requires to be assured that there are such systems in place and it is normal practice to ask suppliers to describe these in their bid or at the pre-qualification stage. Accreditation to BS5750 is a helpful way for suppliers to demonstrate their quality systems, but we do not insist on this as it is not appropriate in all cases and there can be satisfactory alternatives.
In relation to local authorities, it is for authorities themselves to determine the quality which they require. The question of whether or not a supplier has BS5750 accreditation is one factor which authorities may wish to take into account. For services subject to compulsory competitive tendering, we issued guidance to authorities on quality assurance in the Scottish Office Environment Department circular 13/93.