Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the social value aspect of the procurement process will be adhered to in the future purchase of a Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon for the Royal Navy.

As the procurement of a Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon had not yet reached the stage of issuing Invitation to Tender or Invitation to Negotiate at the point that application of the Social Value Model became mandated. The procurement team will consider what Social Value criteria to include when the competition enters its next stage.