Contributions
879 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 33 and 34, but I start by thanking my noble friend Lady Brinton for highlighting the need to make sure that this Bill and the Health and Care…11 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, all the amendments in this group—which, the Minister will note, come from all the various groups and tendencies in the Lords, including the Conservatives—are concerned…11 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, although I am not a great expert on this subject, it seems that this is a case in which judicial review would be extremely easy because the question of how one justifies…11 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]11 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, could we ask for some clarification on this, perhaps in a letter? Probation services are obviously a personal service that falls outside healthcare. Personal tutoring…11 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 44, 56 and 57. I too have gone back to the Green Paper and the Government’s response to that consultation and I remain extremely puzzled that…11 Jul 2022HANSARDFunctioning of GovernmentMy Lords, of course Her Majesty’s Government need to go on during this moment of very considerable external economic and political difficulty, but does the Minister accept that a…07 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I hope the Minister is impressed by the cross-party consensus on a number of things on this issue. At the moment, this is very much a skeleton Bill. The demands to put…06 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]Flexibility, I think I understand, means a skeleton Bill. I think we all understand that. It will either be in the strategic policy statement, which we will come to, or it needs…06 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]06 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]I thank the noble Lord for his explanations; if some of them had been available earlier, it might have been easier to accept some of the Government’s arguments. I find Clause 109…06 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, the previous discussion has demonstrated the active concerns a lot of members of this Committee have that this Bill should not cramp the ability of local authorities to…06 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 81, which we on these Benches regard as particularly important. It would put in the Bill one of the most important decisions to take before…06 Jul 2022HANSARDStrikes: Cover by Agency WorkersMy Lords, agencies might be able to help with one or two spare government appointments at present: independent adviser to the Prime Minister, chairman of the Conservative Party,…05 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I do not want to prolong the debate. I must say that, having spent the weekend worrying whether I was thick-headed in not understanding the concept of a covered…04 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, my name is on some of these amendments. My colleagues have spoken to several of them so I shall merely add a few things. I was particularly concerned by the term…04 Jul 2022HANSARDProcurement Bill [HL]My Lords, I suggest looking at the definitions in Clause 112. I note that the terms “central government authority”, which clearly does not apply, and “centralised procurement…04 Jul 2022HANSARDBanks: ForgeryMy Lords, there is active concern about not just fraud but money laundering and large-scale bribery—money laundering not only from former socialist states such as Russia but from…30 Jun 2022HANSARDTrades Union Congress: Levelling UpMy Lords, the Government are currently adding a large number of amendments to the procurement Bill already before this House. Have they thought that in the large number of…29 Jun 2022HANSARDHigher Education (Freedom of Speech) BillMy Lords, this Bill is unnecessary and un-Conservative. It addresses a problem that is far less severe than right-wing think tanks have claimed, and for which the Government’s…28 Jun 2022