The Treasury has tightened up regulations in an attempt to prevent conflicts of interest when government is awarding contracts to the private sector.

An investigation by Tynwald’s Social Affairs Policy Review Committee (SAPRC), after complaints were made about a Department of Health and Social Care tender processes, recommended the government should consider implementing background checks on officers involved in procurement.

In an initial response to the SAPRC report last year, the DHSC warned background checks on government staff would ’in the most part be ineffective and possibly divisive’.

However, Tynwald asked for the Council of Ministers to report back.

Responding on behalf of CoMin, the Treasury says it has nothing to add to the DHSC comments about background checks.

But it says: ’The process as it was in 2014, when this situation arose, was passive in nature, requiring officers to declare a conflict of interest when and if they became aware. The new process now requires officers to make a positive and clear declaration as to whether or not a conflict of interest exists.’

Previously, tender documentation required a greater degree of disclosure than financial regulations, and this has now been addressed through the financial regulations being broadened.

The SAPRC began an investigation of the social care procurement process after both Crossroads Care and The Children’s Centre raised concerns.

Crossroads was unhappy with the tender process to outsource domiciliary care in 2014, for which Crossroads was shortlisted but unsuccessful. The two final bidders, whose costs were above the available budget, were invited to review their pricing. Ultimately, the department decided to keep the service in-house.

The second complaint came from The Children’s Centre, over the tender for the family support services contract in 2014. The centre pointed out that John Richards, a senior officer in the DHSC, was listed as a trustee with the charity Family Action, which won the bid initially. Mr Richards had previously declared his role with the charity to the department, but it was decided no action was required because, at that point, the organisation had not expressed any interest. He resigned as a trustee when Family Action announced plans to bid.

After the complaint by The Children’s Centre, the tender process was dropped and the department continued with the original contractor - The Children’s Centre. A new tender exercise was launched in 2016 and the service is now operated by Family Action.

The committee found both the DHSC and the procurement division ’followed procedure correctly - unfortunately they were each following a different procedure’.

The Treasury says it is considering mandatory financial training requirements as part of an over-reaching review of financial regulations