Government Procurement Policy (Hansard, 6 March 2003)

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on Government procurement policy. [100606]

§ Mr. Boateng
The Government's procurement policy is that all public procurement of goods, works and services is to be based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity. Value for money is the optimum combination of whole life cost and quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet the user's requirement.

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of weighting value for money against ethical and socially constructive approaches to business in the selection of suppliers for Government Departments. [100607]

§ Mr. Boateng
Within the Government's procurement policy and the EC procurement rules, it is possible to take account of environmental, social and ethical factors where they are relevant to the subject of the contract and do not undermine value for money for the taxpayer. Relevant factors can be reflected in appropriate, non-discriminatory specifications and can feature, where appropriate, in whole life cost and quality award criteria.