Member

The noble Baroness, Lady Finn, asked how the new regime would help more SMEs and VCSEs win contracts, which is really key to this evening’s debate. The new regime places a new duty on contracting authorities to have regard to particular barriers facing SMEs throughout the procurement life cycle, and to consider what can be done to overcome them. Bidding companies will have to submit their core credentials only once on to a single digital platform. This will make it easier and cheaper for SMEs that do not have dedicated bid teams to bid, saving the time and associated costs of having to provide the same information each time.