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27 Jun 2005 : Column 1294W—continued
Public Conveniences
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many public conveniences were recorded on the commercial and industry property database of the Valuation Office Agency in each London borough in each year since 2000. [7247]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of public conveniences shown in the rating list, for each London borough, for each year since 2000, is shown in the table.
27 Jun 2005 : Column 1295W
Public Procurement Directive
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2005, Official Report, columns 683–84W, on the public procurement Directive, what the Government's definition is of a competent authority; and which authorities have been identified as suitable for collating information on convictions in relation to this directive. [6427]
John Healey: The EU public procurement Directive (2004/18/EC) does not provide a definition of competent authority in relation to Article 45. It is left for member states to designate the authorities competent to carry out the role of providing information on the personal situation of the candidates or tenderers concerned. The Office of Government Commerce is in discussion with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) on this aspect of Article 45.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2005, Official Report, columns 683–84W, on the Public Procurement Directive, if he will list those who responded to the consultation; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the responses which referred to Article 45 of EU Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC. [6428]
John Healey: The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) received 255 responses from a wide range of organisations following the 2004 consultation exercise on the new Public Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC). These included Government Departments, local authorities, law firms, suppliers, trade unions and other interested parties. A summary of these responses is available on the OGC website: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?docid=1002407, and the list of respondents, excluding those who requested confidentiality, is included in alphabetical order as follows:
As part of this consultation, OGC asked recipients to consider several key areas. These included Article 45, which concerns the mandatory exclusion of suppliers convicted of certain offences from public contracts. Copies of the consultation responses that specifically mentioned Article 45 have been placed in the Library. Copies of all other responses will be placed in the Library shortly.
In some cases there was more than one response from organisations. In particular, there were many responses from Remploy and its employees.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the record of discussions and correspondence between the Office of Government Commerce and the Criminal Records Bureau about implementation of Article 45 of the EU Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC. [6450]
John Healey: The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is considering with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) how best to implement Article 45, a I said in my written answer to the hon. Gentleman on 9 June 2005, Official Report, columns 682–83WA. It would not be appropriate to make available the record of discussions and correspondence between OGC and CRB. Doing so would inhibit the formulation and development ofGovernment policy, a process which is currently on-going.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Office of Government Commerce has had further discussions with the private and public sectors about Article 45 of the new EU publicprocurement Directive 2004/18/EC since the consultation exercise was undertaken in 2004. [6469]
John Healey: Since the 2004 consultation exercise, the implementation of the new EU public procurement Directive has been, and will continue to be, discussed in numerous seminars, conferences and meetings involving the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). These occasions are normally requested and arranged by other interested parties, including other Government departments, the devolved Administrations, local authorities and the wider public sector, the legal community, suppliers and NGOs, and are separate from OGC's formal consultation process. Article 45 often features in such discussions, along with all other main provisions of the new Directive. On 20 June 2005 OGC began a further 12-week consultation on the draft Regulations implementing the Directive, including Article 45. OGC is in discussion with the Criminal Records Bureau on the practical implementation of this Article.
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