Lord Hawkeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are watching carefully to see whether specialist suppliers of essential strategic defence equipment are threatened by the Government's monetary policies; and if so whether they are doing anything to keep such suppliers in being, for instance by placing orders in advance of requirements.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal)The moratorium on new defence contracts came to an end on 8th November. In order to seek to remain within the cash limits the Ministry of Defence has been obliged to impose a stringent discipline on new commitments for the rest of this financial year. The Secretary of State has nevertheless given authority for contracts to be placed1194WA when there is evidence that deferment would put at risk a sole source of supply to the Department in this country or would narrow the range of commercial competition significantly to the disadvantage of the Services. There can, however, I am afraid be no question of placing orders in anticipation of the authorisation of requirements.