Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (Hansard, 25 March 2002)

§ Mr. Battle
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work programme of DERA. [45368]

§ Dr. Moonie
DERA was disestablished on 1 July 2001 as part of the DERA PPP and two new organisations, Dstl and QinetiQ plc, were formed. The split of DERA, and thus the work programme, was done on the basis of capabilities; the principle being that the work that could not easily be transferred to the private sector remained within the Ministry of Defence, the rest became part of QinetiQ's business.

§ Mr. Jenkin
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the representations he has received from defence manufacturers on the transfer of parts of DERA to the private sector. [45685]

§ Dr. Moonie
On completion of formal consultation on the DERA PPP process in June 2000, 19 written responses had been received from industry, including defence manufacturers. An industry forum was subsequently held to provide an opportunity for a detailed discussion of the PPP proposals before decisions were made on the way ahead. Rather than publish the individual representations, which would require the approval of the relevant organisations, the key points have been summarised in the Ministry of Defence responses about consultation to the Defence Select Committee and trade unions. The summary was published by the Defence Select Committee in its fifth report of session 2000–01 titled "The Draft Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Trading Fund Order 2001 at Appendix 3". In general, industry 561W regarded the PPP proposals as workable and indicated a willingness to liaise with MOD to ensure that they were implemented in a way that best meets defence interests.
Consultation with industry has been a regular feature of the PPP process and has taken the form of informal workshops, meetings, briefings and seminars. Contact has generally been focused through the trade associations or other relevant professional bodies such as the Defence Industries Council, Defence Manufacturers Association and Association of Independent Research and Technology Organisations. Officials managing the PPP process are also in regular contact with the National Defence Industry Council's appointed industry liaison officer.