Government Departments: Procurement
The question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to clause 6(a) of the UK-USA Economic and Prosperity Deal, published on 8 May 2025, if he will make it his policy to bar Chinese companies with links to forced labour in Xinjiang from Government procurement contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. The Act’s new debarment powers will also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
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