Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy that all government procurement contracts for goods and services include an obligation to sign up to and fulfil the armed forces corporation covenant.

The Corporate Covenant provides an excellent opportunity for businesses and other organisations to declare their support for members of the Armed Forces community. To date, across the UK, more than 590 companies have pledged their support and the number is growing steadily. The Secretary of State for Defence has written to the FTSE 350 companies to challenge them to sign the Corporate Covenent.

European Union (EU) procurement law does not permit the contract award procedure or any contract condition to discriminate against any supplier in the EU. An obligation to sign up and fulfil the Corporate Covenant is likely to disadvantage suppliers outside the UK, although we encourage potential suppliers to sign up to the pledge in every invitation to tender we issue. This is a voluntary approach that allows each organisation to reach their own decisions about the level of support they provide.