Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact deferring contracting training, infrastructure and other services for E-7 Wedgetail aircraft will have on their ability to negotiate competitive prices.

There has not been any deferral of contracting for these additional services. It is common in acquisition projects of this size and complexity to adopt an incremental procurement approach that enables a better alignment of the build-up of the aircraft fleet and capability with the points at which such additional services are actually required. An overriding consideration in any contract is, of course, to seek best value for money for defence, and there are a variety of mechanisms available to ensure this, including competition or the application of Single Source Contracts Regulations.