Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Gwynne Excerpts
Monday 12th September 2016

(7 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Harriett Baldwin Portrait Harriett Baldwin
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My hon. Friend is right to highlight one of the major themes that came out of the review into how we can improve defence procurement. As he rightly points out, there were problems with the design of the Type 45, which was ordered at the beginning of the previous decade, that have subsequently been costly to rectify. That is why we now take such care on design: to prevent such things from happening in future.

Andrew Gwynne Portrait Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
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I welcome what the Minister said in answer to an earlier question about targets that are in place to ensure small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK benefit from defence procurement. When she is considering value for money and single-source contracts, can she assure the House that value for money includes British jobs, British skills and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) said, investment in apprenticeships?