T2. Ms Á Murphy asked the Minister of Finance for an update on the work that he is doing to ensure that community groups have a level playing field when bidding for contracts, particularly those for delivering community-based services, which he previously highlighted as important. (AQT 1792/17-22)

We are doing that through the Procurement Board, which I reconstituted. I brought in a range of people so that we could get some voices in there that had not previously been heard, and also some practitioners to ensure that we had that level of expertise in the Procurement Board. We made a recent addition: we brought in people from the voluntary and community sector — we already had social enterprise people — to make sure that their voices were heard.

One thing that we have heard loud and clear from community projects is that they have spent years providing services, particularly in areas like mental health and health support to communities, only to find themselves outbid for some of those contracts by organisations that have much deeper pockets and have come in and, in some cases, subcontracted the services back out to the community and voluntary sector organisations that were doing the job in the first place. They have ended up doing the same job for less money. Obviously, they have built up the local connections, knowledge, interactions with people in the area and that confidence in providing a service.

Therefore, through procurement, we have said clearly to Departments that they have the flexibility to look at awarding grants rather than tenders. They can look at how services are provided. Of course, we want top-class services. We want to ensure that those services are working for people. There is that flexibility but, through our own procurement guidance that we are bringing through the Executive bit by bit, we are ensuring that that is hammered home. A guidance paper will go to the Executive tomorrow, I hope, that will reinforce that message.

This morning, I was delighted to hear that the Executive has secured accreditation as a living wage employer. Will that extend to procurement policy?

That is part of it. A living wage has been brought in by the Executive for all Civil Service workers in the first instance. It affects in the region of 300 or 400 Civil Service workers, bringing them up to the level of the living wage. On procurement, the Executive approved our agreement to ensure that, from next June, new government contracts will be awarded on the basis of ensuring that the people who win them pay a Living Wage Foundation standard living wage to the people whom they employ.