Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of his Department's spending was with SMEs in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The methodology used to calculate Government Departments’ spend with SMEs changed with effect from financial year (FY) 2013-14 to include sub-contracted spend. Since then the Cabinet Office has published all Departments’ direct and indirect spend with SMEs annually on the gov.uk website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/central-government-spend-with-smes
Data from 2010-2013, which only covers direct spend that the MOD had with SMEs, is set out in the table below:
FY | Total Spend with SMEs | Proportion of MOD spending |
2010-11 | £0.69 billion | 3% |
2011-12 | £1 billion | 5% |
2012-13 | £1 billion | 5% |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many swimming pools have been maintained by the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Marines in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy maintains three swimming pools across its estate under the Future Maritime Support Programme. The remainder of the swimming pools across the Naval estate are maintained by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence Equipment and Support's article entitled £122m contract sees UK’s fleet of Airbus H145s expanded with six procured for overseas duties, published on 18 April 2024, whether that contract includes through-life support costs.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The £122 million contract with Airbus Helicopters UK for six Airbus H145 helicopters to provide aviation support to Defence outputs in Brunei and Cyprus encompasses the procurement of the aircraft, an initial three-year support plan, and includes the expenses required to establish the capability in each overseas location.
Support beyond the first three years is subject to a separate project which will include determining the nature of the procurement strategy for the future support solution.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of The Defence Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Action Plan.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Action Plan was published in 2022. It was developed in consultation with the defence SME community and reflects the priorities that they identified.
We are now beginning work on the next iteration of the MOD’s Action Plan and as part of the consultation process we are seeking feedback from SMEs on the implementation of the current plan.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time is between his Department sending an Invitation To Negotiate and a procurement contract coming into effect.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The average days between 'Awarding Date' and 'Publication Date' for Invitation to Tender (ITT) /Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) on the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) is 149 Days.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she expects his Department to conclude negotiations with Harland and Wolff on a loan under the Export Development Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HM Government does not comment on ongoing commercial discussions.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many sabotage incidents have taken place at UK defence industrial sites in each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It has been the long-standing policy of the current and previous Governments that we do not comment on security incidents.
The Ministry of Defence takes the security of our sites and UK defence industrial sites extremely seriously. We have robust measures in place to assure the integrity of these arrangements. When any type of security incident is raised, it is reviewed by security personnel and subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.