Former Armed Forces Minister and Rayleigh and Wickford MP, has warmly welcomed the introduction of the ‘new integrated procurement model’, which represents comprehensive reform of defence procurement.
In response to an Oral Statement on the Integrated Procurement Model, by the Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge MP, Mark said:
“I have waited years for an MoD Minister to issue this statement- and this very good Minister has done just that. It’s true the PAC said that the procurement system was broken, the Defence Committee last summer endorsed that in a Report in a Sub Committee that I chaired, entitled ‘It is broke- and it is time to fix it.’- well I take this as the fix, the put right plan.
Can I welcome it- and in particular the sense of urgency that comes with it? When the Defence Secretary said that we now live in a ‘pre-war’, rather than a ‘post-war’ world, we must do this quicker and crucially faster. The proof will be in the pudding, but can the Minister assure me and the whole House that the point about the sense of urgency will be at the centre of any of this- and he and Andy Start will now get on with it?”
In response, the Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge MP, said:
“I am honoured by my Rt Hon Friend, we enjoy our robust exchanges- and that is one I will particularly remember.”
“What I would say is that this phrase ‘sense of urgency’ is what I think the public wants to hear because as important as our exchanges are here today, this is really serious and why this is above politics, this is about the fact that our adversaries are rapidly ramping up their procurement defence technology at a frankly frightening pace in a number of cases.”
Commenting further on today’s statement, Mark Francois said:
“Having chaired the Defence Sub-Committee inquiry into defence procurement, I warmly welcome this fundamental reform to defence procurement. As we enter an increasingly dangerous world, it is imperative that our procurement system finally starts to deliver kit on time and on budget- not least as we might actually have to fight with it.”
