Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the defence procurement system.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to driving effective delivery of capability to the front line and this is reflected in overall performance. For example, from the main investment decision point, the majority of Defence Equipment & Support programmes deliver on or ahead of their original cost estimates, and about half deliver on or ahead of original time estimates.

The Department continues to work to increase pace and improve delivery. We are focusing on our people and learning from experience to set new programmes up for success and embed improvement into the future. Our pan-Defence acquisition reform agenda which was established in early 2022 covers five themes:

· Improving cost estimating and cost control

· Improving relationships with industry

· Delivering strategic intent and Defence priorities through our requirements

· Empowering and enabling programme leadership

· Streamlining acquisition and approvals processes and addressing project resourcing challenges