§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish the legislation for the DERA PPP described in his Department's performance report 1999–2000.[145402]
§ Mr. HoonI refer the hon. Member to the announcement I made in the House on 24 July 2000,Official Report, columns 777–79, about our intention to proceed with the implementation of the Core Competence model for the DERA public-private partnership. Under Core Competence, around three-quarters of the current DERA organisation will be turned into a company, referred to as NewDERA. For strategic reasons, the remainder will be retained within the Ministry of Defence to carry out functions that could not appropriately be transferred to the private sector.
The necessary legislation to amend the existing DERA Trading Fund Order to remove those operations which will form the basis of the new company was laid before Parliament on 17 January 2001. Copies of the draft Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Trading Fund Order 2001 are available from the House of Commons Vote Office.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the vesting date will be for NewDERA plc; who the directors of the company are; and if he will place in the Library the articles of association of the company. [145403]
§ Mr. HoonI can advise the hon. Member that, subject to the approval of the amended Trading Fund Order laid before Parliament on 17 January 2001, the vesting day for 541W NewDERA will be 1 July 2001. The chief executive of the new company will be Sir John Chisholm who is the chief executive of the current DERA organisation. In December 2000 it was announced that Sir John Egan will become the chairman of the new company. The other members of the Board will be chosen in due course. A copy of the articles of association will be placed in the House at the point of vesting.