Defence Procurement

Philip Hollobone Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

No; the first phase of the overall project was about designing what we required in DE&S and looking at how the interface would work with the devolved customer—the devolution of budgets to the front-line commands is also a new step that we have introduced. We have also resourced the work on developing the DE&S plus model since we launched the MatStrat—matériel strategy—competition earlier this year, so that work has had proper resourcing. Although the proposal that has been put forward is nowhere near as detailed as that put forward by the private sector bidder for the GoCo proposition—as it is only right to expect—it is a sound framework for building a public sector solution to the challenge we face in DE&S.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Having visited Abbey Wood with the armed forces parliamentary scheme, may I congratulate my right hon. Friend on being bold and innovative in trying to reform the massive defence procurement system? Can he give the House his best examples under the current system of something that has been procured well and something that has been procured badly, and the lessons learnt from both?

[Mr Hammond]

There are countless examples of excellent procurement results in the UOR—urgent operational requirement—system. Indeed, it is common ground among Members who take an interest in this issue that we have to try to import some of the lessons from the UOR system into the routine procurement system. I do not want to pre-empt the major projects review that the National Audit Office will publish in the new year, but I can promise my hon. Friend that he will see programmes that deliver on time and within budget on a scale that he will not have seen before. That is a sign of the progress that is being made, although there is much further to go.