Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of outsourcing procurement operations to the private sector.

The Ministry of Defence continually assesses the most effective and efficient means of delivering its procurement operations. While the Department has not published a specific standalone assessment solely focused on outsourcing procurement operations, it operates as part of the Government Commercial Function, within the broader framework of Government guidance, including the Outsourcing Playbook and the Sourcing Playbook. The playbooks set out best practices for evaluating outsourcing decisions across Government Departments.