Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and William Bain(10 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Dunne
Our proposal to stand up the DE&S as a bespoke trading entity with effect from 1 April are proceeding apace, and I can tell the hon. Gentleman that there are currently some 800 vacancies among the 9,500 posts in DE&S involved in defence acquisition, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State told the Defence Select Committee the other day. The prospects for skilled employees in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and adjacent constituencies are therefore extremely good.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
Does the Secretary of State welcome the terms of the agreement reached in Brussels last month on greater European defence co-operation, including completing the single market in the sale of military equipment? What does he think would happen to jobs in our defence manufacturing industries if Britain were to sleepwalk out of the European Union—a proposition that he has agreed with in the past?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and William Bain(11 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Dunne
My hon. Friend asks what is being done to improve procurement in the MOD. I assure him that it is the top priority for the current year, at least for this procurement Minister. As I said earlier, we do not differentiate between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to procurement.
In my view, the most interesting fact to emerge from the report from the National Audit Office was the improving trend in procurement. A reduction was forecast in the delivery costs of 13 of the 16 projects to which it referred, and 70% of the projected overspend relating to the remaining three related to increased fuel costs up to 2035 over which the MOD had no control whatsoever.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
Has the Minister had an opportunity to consider last week’s report from the Scottish Affairs Committee, which states that a further 1,500 jobs at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde could be lost by 2022 if Scotland became a separate state, and that 8,200 jobs relied directly on Scotland’s remaining part of the United Kingdom?