My Lords, I wish the noble Lord, Lord True, well. I hope that he feels better than he did. I will speak to Amendment 68 in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Hayman, and Amendment 80 in our names and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. I recognise that there has been a plethora of really good amendments that we support; it would be impossible to go through everybody’s amendments, but I am particularly pleased to see those in the names of my noble friends Lady Thornton and Lord Hunt.
I praise the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, again for the brilliance of her “may”s to “must”s and “must”s to “may”s. I feel for her, because I do that sort of thing all the time. The change of one word is astonishingly important. I recognise how difficult it was for her to move the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, which changes “may” to “must”, when all of her amendments to later parts of the Bill change “must” to “may”. I can see the split in the Conservatives between those who wish to see greater market involvement, the Minister in the middle with his socialist bent, and the others seeking to restrict the role of the state.
Our amendments, particularly Amendment 68, which builds on Amendment 74 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, are about the process, which is particularly important. But first, to pick up the point from the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, Amendment 60 from the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, is crucial, as otherwise the rest of the amendments are pointless. We will have the most brilliant national procurement policy statement that is not published and is not mandatory. I agree with all the points and comments that have been made about environmental principles, the very important points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, about food, what the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, said about Wales, and all the different things that everyone has mentioned, but the Government are not required to publish the statement.
The first question the Minister needs to answer is: what has happened since June 2021, when the Government published the national procurement policy statement that can be found on their website and the accompanying note that says they will legislate to ensure that when people procure, they must have regard to the statement? The Government stated that they would provide a legislative vehicle that would ensure that the national procurement policy statement was adhered to by business, or whoever the contracting authorities are. Yet, in the Bill, there is a legislative vehicle of sorts, but it is nowhere near what was envisaged in June 2021. Why has BEIS or the Cabinet Office changed its mind between what was going to be required in June 2021 and what is now in this legislation? I am pleased that there is a legislative vehicle, but the changing of “may” to “must” by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, is absolutely
fundamental and crucial, because it will require all these other things that we have discussed over the past hour—so ably and with great effect, I think—to be in the Bill.
I just say this, because I know that the noble Lord, Lord True, will say that it is a mixture of Lord Coaker the socialist, other liberals, Greens and goodness knows who else—some wet people on his own side and so on. He will say it is completely and utterly ridiculous and dismiss it. However, I am a bit of an anorak and I look at what the Government publish and what you can find if you look on the internet and google things. The Government very helpfully provide all sorts of information. The letter of 7 June that the noble Lord, Lord True, had from the Constitution Committee was published; helpfully, so was his response of 27 June. The serious point that I make is that all the points that have been made in Committee about changing “may” to “must” and the mandatory requirement that many of us think is essential are supported by the Constitution Committee. The Minister will know that, because he was written to on 7 June by its chair, my noble friend Lady Drake.
I will not read the whole of the letter, just the final paragraph:
“The Committee would be grateful for clarification as to why the statement of priorities is not mandatory, given that it is considered important enough to require consultation and Parliamentary approval. Further information you can provide as to the justification for this approach would be welcome.”
In other words, the cross-party Select Committee is saying to the Government that they have got it wrong. In Clause 12(1), it should not be
“A Minister of the Crown may publish a statement”;
it should be that a Minister of the Crown “must” publish a statement. The Select Committee agrees with the amendment that has been tabled, and so I think do a large number of this Committee. The Minister, however, has already made his mind up because, on 27 June, he wrote back to say that the Government do not agree. For the benefit of the Committee, it is important for us to understand why the Minister thinks that the movers of these amendments, such as the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, and those of us who support them are wrong and why he wrote the letter back on 27 June to the Select Committee chair, my noble friend Lady Drake, explaining why she was wrong. I think that is really important.
6.45 pm
I emphasise this again for those who read our proceedings: unless it is compulsory for the national policy procurement statement to be published, the real power and driving force will go. If the Minister were a business or a contracting authority who saw all these various priorities put into the statement one year, and then it disappeared, why would he think that it was important to the Government for him to conform to it if it is not mandatory? Presumably, if it is not mandatory, there is no requirement for businesses to conform to it. If the statement is not published, where does that leave us?
This takes us to the amendment tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Hayman and the process amendment put forward by the noble Baroness,
Lady Parminter. These are crucial because they are saying that we cannot just have a negative process where it withers on the vine and disappears. There needs to be a process by which the national policy procurement statement is written and is followed by a debate on what should and should not be included in it, which would take place through the consultation. That will then be looked at and agreed to, or not, by the Government, things will be put in or left out, and then an affirmative resolution will be put before both Houses and that process will go through. Surely, that is the proper way of doing it. With the consultation suggested by the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, and the affirmative proposal in our Amendment 68, all the other amendments can be discussed so that we can include social value, the social and environmental policies that others have mentioned, food standards in schools and all the various things that we think are important.
I believe that the Minister himself thinks that much of this is important; no one is for the degradation of the environment. We are all trying to say to the Government that they need to go further to ensure that the agreed procurement strategy will achieve the effect that the Government want. The Government have a net-zero by 2050 policy, so the procurement policy is an essential way for the Government to deliver their own policy. Why would it be controversial for the procurement policy statement to require businesses, contractors and contracting authorities to adhere to that policy, thereby enabling the Government to achieve their own objective? That is the question many of us want answered: why is it not mandatory? Why is it not subject to an affirmative process so that all the other amendments before us become relevant for inclusion in what would be a progressive statement that would excite and inspire people and help the Government deliver something that we all want them to achieve?