HC Deb 08 June 1999 vol 332 c208W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those British military uniforms which are produced by overseas countries; and if he will list the countries that make such equipment. [84965]

Mr. Doug Henderson

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Michael Roycroft to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 8 June 1999I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence as this matter falls within my area of responsibility. You ask that we provide a list of those British military uniforms which are produced by overseas countries and the countries that make such equipment. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the requested information. The Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency (DCTA) is responsible for the procurement of all clothing items for the Armed Forces. The vast majority of DCTA purchases are made-up garments, with MOD having no requirement for contractors to specify the country of origin of the textiles used to make the items, and there is no remit on DCTA to record such information. We can, however, provide some analysis of clothing contracts. Current figures indicate that around 73% by value of DCTA clothing contracts for 1998/99 were awarded to UK firms, leaving 27% to overseas firms. As required by Government Accounting, DCTA must advertise all potential contracts valued greater than £160,670 in the European Journal, which certainly attracts overseas contractors. There can, therefore, be no "buy British" policy for Defence Textiles. The only contractual stipulation regarding the country of manufacture is that 10% of garments must be made at the main contractor's accredited facilities. Of paramount importance is to ensure that fabrics meet the MOD's demanding specification, such as fibre content, wear quality and fire retardancy and the country of manufacture is secondary. All firms, from UK and abroad, utilise cloth manufactured overseas and whilst DCTA could certainly provide examples of countries supplying textiles, this information is considered nugatory as it would not give the comprehensive answer that you seek. I am sorry I am unable to provide the information in the form it was requested.