Defence: Procurement

(asked on 7th September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to tackle potential supply chain delays and disruptions to defence supply chains as a result of the (a) covid-19 outbreak and (b) UK's departure from the EU.


Answered by
Jeremy Quin Portrait
Jeremy Quin
This question was answered on 15th September 2021

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the health and resilience of its supply chains very seriously and we always work with suppliers to understand and take action on any threats that could result in their disruption. The initiatives that are in place include an extensive MOD-wide Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Programme, which aims to map our most critical supply chains to ensure that any potential impact on the delivery of Defence outputs is minimised.

The MOD is also active in the pan-government Global Supply Chains initiative to review those critical supply chains so that vulnerabilities can be assessed, and mitigations considered. In addition, we have worked closely together with industry at all levels and maintained an open dialogue, to identify and put in place the measures needed to protect the supply chains of our key programmes, and to maintain the resilience of the UK's industrial and technology base.

Throughout the COVID crisis the MOD supported the Defence sector with increased government financial assistance including the Cabinet Office led initiative to support strategically important suppliers and the use of payments to maintain business continuity (commonly known as interim payments).

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