Written question asked by Jim Murphy (Labour) on Monday, 4 March 2013, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 March 2013. It was answered by Philip Dunne (Conservative) on Thursday, 7 March 2013 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Procurement

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of contracts measured by value were awarded by his Department to UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

[146656]

Answer

For financial year 2011-12, around 12% of all contracts by value were placed with small and medium-sized enterprises. This equates to around 40% by volume of all new Ministry of Defence (MOD) contracts placed during that year. No distinction is made between whether these companies are based in the UK or overseas.

The MOD recognises that smaller businesses are an important source of innovation and flexibility in meeting defence and security requirements. We are undertaking a range of measures to help SMEs secure more defence business, both directly through contracts with MOD and indirectly as members of the defence supply chain. These measures seek to ensure a level playing field and a fair chance for small and medium-sized enterprises—neither preferential treatment nor discriminatory barriers.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 146656; 559 c1128W
Session: 2012-13
Subjects: Procurement Ministry of Defence
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk

Procurement

Secondary information

Librarians' tools