Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Loder Excerpts

Monday 21st September 2020 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to support the domestic manufacture of defence helicopters.

[The Minister for Defence Procurement (Jeremy Quin)]

The Department is committed to supporting UK helicopters and the defence industry more broadly. Over the next decade, we plan to spend over £180 billion on equipment and equipment support, which currently includes around £10.9 billion on helicopter capability.

[Chris Loder]

Many of my constituents in West Dorset work for Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil, where redundancies have recently been announced. That is of great concern to me, my constituents and those of my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr Fysh). What is the Minister doing to support the company?

[Jeremy Quin]

I share my hon. Friend’s concern. I am pleased to reassure him that those redundancies do not relate to any changes of plan on Ministry of Defence work, but rather to a decision taken by the company to ensure that it remains on a financially strong footing. We continue to work actively with Leonardo on its excellent Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, and I am pleased to support its export drives, including earlier this month in person, in Poland.