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Defence Procurement

That surprises me, because this will be one of the biggest defence projects for a number of years and there was no mention of it in the Minister's speech. We suspected that the decision was taken more for political reasons: the former Prime Minister wishing to get the decision out of the way before the new Prime Minister came on board, thus keeping his hands clean—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) suggests that that is exactly the case. I am sure that political imperatives, rather than industrial ones, drove the decision earlier this year. I have previously expressed concerns about the support for small businesses in the defence sector. There is an over-reliance on multinationals, which can invest or disinvest in a country at the stroke of a pen. Small and medium-sized enterprises have a role to play, especially at the high-level, innovative end of the market, but many small businesses find it difficult to engage directly with the Ministry of Defence in whatever the contracting arrangements are and they are often unaware of the opportunities. When they take the precious time to discover those opportunities, they find the process extremely complicated and bureaucratic. I welcome the encouragement of improved supply chain management of the primes. BAE Systems is one example of improvement in that regard. Adopting a more paternalistic relationship than simply squeezing out every last penny is often a much more constructive and long-term approach. Given the passing of the Defence Diversification Agency, which had evolved into a body that supported small businesses, I would welcome an update on how the Government plan to support the engagement of small businesses in the defence sector. The national health service and the higher education sectors have specialist bodies that engage with small businesses and businesses in general, but what will happen in the defence sector?