House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Asked by Jim Shannon
(Strangford)
Asked on: 10 June 2015
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence: Procurement
2055
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what continuous improvement programme there is for his Department’s procurement practices.
Answered by: Mr Philip Dunne
Answered on: 18 June 2015
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to make progress in improving procurement, as evidenced in the latest National Audit Office Major Projects Report, which recorded the best cost performance on major MOD projects since 2005 and the best time performance since at least 2001. Our 10-year, affordable and realistic equipment and support plan, which now underpins defence procurement, is also having a positive effect on the way we buy and support equipment for the Armed Forces.
Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), where most equipment procurement is undertaken, was established in April 2014 as a bespoke trading entity – an Arm’s Length Body of the MOD. The changed status of DE&S, and its associated management freedoms, marked the beginning of a three-year timeline to transform it into a best-in-class defence acquisition and support organisation. Through this programme, DE&S will draw on industry best practice to review and improve project controls and programme management, thereby enabling the organisation to operate in a more business-like fashion.
The MOD also continues to work with suppliers to ensure defence procurement represents value for money, while ensuring that suppliers are paid a fair and reasonable price. For example, the new Single Source Procurement Reform Framework, known as the Orange Book, requires suppliers to provide regular, standardised reports on single source contracts, and comply with new costing regulations, as set out in the Defence Reform Act 2014 and the Single Source Contract Regulations 2014.