All 2 Ministerial Corrections debates in the Commons on 26th Feb 2013

Ministerial Correction

Tuesday 26th February 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Ministerial Corrections
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Tuesday 26 February 2013

Defence: Procurement

Tuesday 26th February 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Ministerial Corrections
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Steve Barclay Portrait Stephen Barclay
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many urgent operational requirements have been identified in each of the last three years; how many such requirements have not been fulfilled; and how many such requirements were delivered (a) later than originally planned and (b) over budget.

[Official Report, 21 May 2012, Vol. 545, c. 438-39W.]

Letter of correction from Philip Dunne:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay) on 21 May 2012.

The full answer given was as follows:

Peter Luff Portrait Peter Luff
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[holding answer 15 May 2012]: Urgent operational requirements (UORs) address urgent and unforeseen capability gaps in support of a current or imminent military operation by providing for the rapid purchase or modification of equipment. Where a requirement is specific to a particular operational theatre and can be delivered quickly, it will be funded from the Government Reserve rather than the Defence budget.

According to departmental records, the numbers of Urgent Statements of User Requirement which have been endorsed by the Permanent Joint Headquarters and subsequently entered the urgent operational requirement process are as follows for the past three years:

FY 2009-10

FY 2010-11

FY 2011-12

Requirements entering UOR process

154

115

58

Subsequently cancelled

53

22

4

Business cases under development

3

19

40



Of the remaining endorsed requirements:

FY 2009-10

FY 2010-11

FY 2011-12

Delivered on time or early

60

26

4

On track to deliver on time

8

25

8

Delivered, or now planned for delivery, later than originally approved equipment delivery date

30

23

2

Within approved cost

93

70

14

Exceeding approved cost

5

4

0

Note:

The requirement for some UORs can change over time and the original approval dates and costs may subsequently be adjusted to allow these changes to be addressed. Therefore not all the instances of later delivery or cost growth represent shortcomings in project management or initial estimating.



Not all requirements which enter the UOR process, progress to a business case and subsequent delivery stages. The reasons for the cancellations shown in the table may include the fact that, while a requirement may be extant, there is currently no equipment solution that can meet it. In such cases, attempts will be made to mitigate the risk through a non-equipment solution such as changing tactics, techniques or procedures. In other cases, the requirement may be cancelled by commanders in theatre because the evolving nature of operations means it is no longer needed. The ‘Business cases under development’ entry in the table represents those requirements where a solution is still being identified or the details finalised prior to approval.

The correct answer should have been:

Peter Luff Portrait Peter Luff
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

[holding answer 15 May 2012]: Urgent operational requirements (UORs) address urgent and unforeseen capability gaps in support of a current or imminent military operation by providing for the rapid purchase or modification of equipment. Where a requirement is specific to a particular operational theatre and can be delivered quickly, it will be funded from the Government Reserve rather than the Defence budget.

According to departmental records, the numbers of Urgent Statements of User Requirement which have been endorsed by the Permanent Joint Headquarters and subsequently entered the urgent operational requirement process are as follows for the past three years:

FY 2009-10

FY 2010-11

FY 2011-12

Requirements entering UOR process

144

106

54

Subsequently cancelled

51

28

13

Business cases under development

4

3

19



Of the remaining endorsed requirements:

FY 2009-10

FY 2010-11

FY 2011-12

Delivered on time or early

60

55

13

On track to deliver on time

3

2

6

Delivered, or now planned for delivery, later than originally approved equipment delivery date

26

18

3

Within approved cost

80

71

22

Exceeding approved cost

9

4

0

Note:

The requirement for some UORs can change over time and the original approval dates and costs may subsequently be adjusted to allow these changes to be addressed. Therefore not all the instances of later delivery or cost growth represent shortcomings in project management or initial estimating.



Not all requirements which enter the UOR process, progress to a business case and subsequent delivery stages. The reasons for the cancellations shown in the table may include the fact that, while a requirement may be extant, there is currently no equipment solution that can meet it. In such cases, attempts will be made to mitigate the risk through a non-equipment solution such as changing tactics, techniques or procedures. In other cases, the requirement may be cancelled by commanders in theatre because the evolving nature of operations means it is no longer needed. The ‘Business cases under development’ entry in the table represents those requirements where a solution is still being identified or the details finalised prior to approval.