Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what lessons his Department learned from the Nimrod MRA4 and Chinook HC Mk3 procurement processes; and what procurement projects his Department uses as benchmarks for effectiveness.

The problems that led to cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 programme and the difficulties with Chinook Mk3 were rooted in the procurement practices of over 20 years ago. Since then a series of procurement reforms, building on an understanding of why projects such as Nimrod MRA4 and Chinook Mk 3 went awry, have produced a more robust equipment acquisition process that has led to improved project delivery performance as set out in the most recent annual NAO Major Project Reports.

Improvements to our procurement processes help to ensure we can maximise investment in the front line. Our Equipment Plan will invest £178 billion on equipment and support over the next decade.