Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the competitive tendering process for the award of the contract to overhaul the former Royal Navy mine countermeasures vessel, HMS Quorn.

A formal competitive process was run by the Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) under the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations on behalf of the Lithuanian Defence Materiel Authority (LTU DMA). During the bid process all but one of the bidders withdrew from the process. The competitive process was brought to a conclusion with the single remaining bidder as permitted by the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations. The contract was placed with Harland and Wolff (Appledore) Limited and immediately novated to LTU DMA and is proceeding in accordance with its terms.