Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department places contractual obligations on prime contractors to meet social value investments; and what proportion of supply chain contracts are awarded by his Department to SMEs as of 1 September 2022.

The Ministry of Defence places contractual obligations on suppliers to meet social value commitments based on the supplier's social value proposal. Progress against the obligations is monitored and measured through the life of the contract using appropriate reporting metrics and Key Performance Indicators.

During financial year 2020-21, the last year for which figures are available, 23% of our procurement spend went direct and indirectly to Small Medium Enterprises.