§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will study the effectiveness of his Department's purchasing systems to ensure that goods are bought competitively when needed.
§ Mr. PattieThe Department's purchasing systems provide for orders to be placed in time to ensure that the Services' requirements are met, but need also to have regard to other factors, such as international commitments, industrial capacity, value for money considerations and so on which may also influence the timing of orders in individual cases. Goods are bought competitively whenever practicable.