Defence contractors in Worcestershire have lobbied Nigel Huddleston MP to express concerns about the Ministry of Defence procurement processes. The MP took the opportunity of defence questions in the House of Commons to ask the Government what actions they are taking to increase engagement with the many small and medium-sized businesses based here in Worcestershire that supply the Ministry of Defence.
Nigel Huddleston told fellow Worcestershire MP and Defence Minister Harriet Baldwin that the MoD has a reputation amongst some suppliers of being challenging to work with and asked what she and the Government were doing to improve working relationships with local defence industry suppliers. In response, Harriet Baldwin said “My hon. Friend and neighbour is absolutely right that it can be challenging to work with Ministry of Defence procurement processes. We are particularly keen to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to apply for business with us. We want to increase the level of our spending that we procure from small businesses from 19% to 25%. Acting on direct feedback from small businesses, we have introduced a network of supply chain advocates to help smaller businesses through the maze of defence procurement”.
The Minister also stated that “With a rising defence budget and an equipment plan worth £178 billion over the next 10 years, we are renewing our capabilities. We spend up to 20% of our science and technology budget on research, and we have launched an £800 million innovation fund”.
Following this exchange, Nigel Huddleston said: “I was pleased to hear the Minister acknowledge that there was a need to improve the way the MoD interacts with contractors, especially small contractors. The goal of significantly increasing the proportion of work allocated to smaller defence and security businesses will be welcomed by the many companies who have lobbied me about this over the last year”.