Public Sector: Construction

Treasury written question – answered at on 1 March 2010.

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Photo of Terry Rooney Terry Rooney Labour, Bradford North

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer

(1) what steps the Office of Government Commerce is taking (a) to monitor compliance by public sector construction clients with the Common Minimum Standards, (b) to ensure that supply team workforces have Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards and (c) to exclude from tendering companies which are not compliant with the Construction Skills Certification Scheme;

(2) what recent estimate he has made of the number of public sector construction clients who do not (a) adhere to the Common Minimum Standards and (b) by contract require their contractors to ensure that their employees have Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards.

Photo of Ian Pearson Ian Pearson Economic Secretary, HM Treasury

The Common Minimum Standards (CMS) summarise Government policy affecting the procurement of built environments. Government do not centrally monitor procuring organisations' implementation of that policy. One of the standards is for clients to include a contract clause requiring individuals in their supply teams to be registered on the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), a trade body run by CSCS Ltd., or to be able to prove their competence in some other appropriate way.

CSCS is managed under contract by CITB-ConstructionSkilis, a sector skills body. The rules and scheme criteria are set by the scheme's owners and Government have no involvement.

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