Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether his Department considered procuring the contract through a competitive tendering process under the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 40323 on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Historic £1.6bn deal provides thousands of air defence missiles for Ukraine and boosts UK jobs and growth, published 2 March 2025, whether contractual contingency measures exist within the contract in the event of (a) production delays, (b) cost overruns and (c) failure to meet performance criteria.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The contract includes provisions to incentivise the specified delivery dates and, where relevant, performance criteria, with remedies available if those contractual obligations are not met. The scope will be placed in a phased manner, with the intent being that each phase is subject to a firm price.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, what (a) transparency reporting obligations and (b) performance milestones have been placed on Thales Northern Ireland.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 40323 on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether procurement thresholds were considered when awarding the contract.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 40323 on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether regulatory compliance audits were undertaken on the contract.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 40323 on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether specific contractual provisions allow for the potential extension of the contract.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The contract does not include executable options to extend its duration. The scope will be awarded in a phased manner, and the contract does include provisions to extend specific delivery dates in certain circumstances.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether the contract was awarded via (a) the Dynamic Purchasing System and (b) a Crown Commercial Service framework.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
No. Procurement of this type of capability is not available through the Dynamic Purchasing System or a Crown Commercial Service framework.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Historic £1.6bn deal provides thousands of air defence missiles for Ukraine and boosts UK jobs and growth, published 2 March 2025, whether an assessment was conducted under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 to determine whether a direct award was justifiable based on (a) extreme urgency and (b) operational necessity.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 40323 on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether (a) an open prior information notice or (b) a voluntary ex-ante transparency notice was published in relation to the procurement.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Neither a Prior Information Notice nor voluntary ex-ante transparency notice were published, noting that this procurement is excluded from applicable procurement legislation as it is pursuant to an international agreement between the UK and Ukraine.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether the contract was reviewed by the Single Source Regulations Office.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ukraine Government selected the lightweight-multirole missile because it has demonstrated itself to be a highly effective short range air defence capability. Because the UK Ministry of Defence is acting on behalf of the Ukrainian Government in procuring these missiles, pursuant to an international agreement between the UK and Ukraine, and the contract is being funded by the Ukraine Government with support from UK Export Finance, the procurement is excluded from the procurement legislation which would normally be applicable.