(2 months ago)
Lords ChamberI am not aware of any particular measures that would prevent them from doing that, but I will look into that matter and revert to the noble Baroness.
My Lords, I declare my interests in the register. Defence procurement has previously had a policy of global competition by default, so what plans do the Government have to look more carefully at what can be sourced from the UK and support our domestic industries in this area?
The Procurement Act has provisions around defence to enable a contracting authority to exclude suppliers from procurement if they present a threat to national security. This can identify suppliers that must be excluded from certain contracts, as well as suppliers that contracting authorities should consider excluding from the procurement. I hope that at least partly addresses the noble Lord’s point.