§ 29. Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied that his Department's research and development expenditure and purchasing policy is fully efficacious in developing the United Kingdom's industrial defence capacity.
§ Mr. PattieYes. The Ministry of Defence's principal objective in formulating its research, development and procurement policies is to obtain for the Services the equipment they require, on time and in the most cost-effective manner. At the same time, such policies also take126W full account of the need to promote the competitiveness and efficiency of British defence industry, whose health and development is of concern to us all.
The Government's policies in this field are described in detail in chapter IV of Cmnd. 8529.