§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria were used in deciding to accept BAE System's bid for the Type-45s. [150523]
§ Mr. HoonI assume that this question refers to the contract recently placed in keeping with the existing procurement strategy for the Demonstration and First of Class Manufacture (DFM) Phase of the Type 45.
In November 1999, BAE Systems was nominated as the Prime Contractor for the Type 45 Programme following the end of the tri-national Horizon Programme. BAE Systems was nominated because of the previous involvement of GEC Marconi in the Horizon International Joint Venture Company, so it could make maximum re-use of the outputs of the Horizon definition work, and they demonstrated an ability to resource the programme to achieve the timeliness in partnership with the IPT. A competition to select the Type 45 Prime Contractor risked delaying the ISD by at least six months and probably longer.
The criteria under which BAE Systems was contracted in December 2000 for the DFM Phase are to deliver the first three Type 45 Destroyers, on schedule and to time. The DFM contract has a successive incentive arrangement encompassing all Prime Contractor work, including the ship build elements, in accordance with the existing competitive Procurement Strategy.