Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2021 to Question 12965 on Ajax Vehicles: Procurement, on what dates the Ajax Scout Gateway Reviews 1, 2 and 3 took place.

Following the preparation of an answer to the right hon. Menber’s Question on the timing of the Ajax Scout Gateway Reviews 1, 2 and 3, further questions have come to light and further work is required to provide a comprehensive answer.

Ajax has been a protracted programme and Ministers have asked the MOD Permanent Secretary to commission an urgent review into the governance steps taken and associated records.

I will write to the right hon. Member in due course with a comprehensive answer to his question, and I will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

As part of this review of the historic governance record a confirmatory check will be undertaken for any references being made to vibration issues prior to December 2019.

Further to my answer of 14 June 2021 to the right hon.Member's Question 12965 I wish to inform him that at the request of Ministers the MOD Permanent Secretary has also commissioned a Health and Safety Review on actions taken on the project since December 2019 (and any pertinent prior events) to confirm the timeline, actions taken and ongoing work.

The vibration trials at Millbrook Proving Ground to which I made reference in the same Question response are ongoing but I have been updated that we will start to receive data in July and August this year with a final report expected to be delivered in September.