Every year, the government spends £400 billion on contracts. For me, the logic is simple: that money should be supporting Plymouth’s businesses and Plymouth’s workers. The honest truth is that for too long, the system hasn’t worked for us. Doors have been effectively slammed shut for our local small businesses, start-ups, and charities. In the past, too many workers in our city, and across the country, have lost out because British firms felt the government simply didn’t have their back.
As the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, I am proud to be a part of the team that is finally changing the rules to protect the industries that define our city-shipbuilding, national security, and green energy. We are cutting the red tape that stops a brilliant Plymouth SME from winning a contract and, where it makes sense, we are bringing delivery back in-house. This government believes it matters where things are made and who makes them. We are instructing departments to use the Procurement Act to put our national interest first.
For the first time, departments will have to confirm if they are using UK steel. We are also developing a new shipbuilding framework to ensure that when the government needs ships, we look to British yards first. Whether you are refitting a boat in Devonport or running a tech start-up in the City Centre, this government is on your side. For decades, we’ve seen public services hollowed out and sold off to the lowest bidder. That era ends now.
We are introducing a Public Interest Test. Before any major service is outsourced, departments must prove it couldn’t be done better in-house. This will apply to 95% of central government spend. We want to see a wave of “insourcing” that brings stability and pride back to public service. If you are creating jobs in the South West and supporting our local community, that should count for something. We are strengthening the weight given to Social Value in every contract decision. We’ll be working closely with trade unions and our local business community to make sure we get that definition right.
I also know how exhausting the “bureaucratic mountain” can be for small firms. To fix this, we are introducing the “Tell Us Once” principle, so you shouldn’t have to start from scratch every time you bid, alongside new AI tools to save bidders hours of time and cut out useless duplication. With these changes, we are taking a massive step toward a system that doesn’t just spend money, but invests in the people of Plymouth.