§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to improve the procedures and practice of his Department in respect to the placing of contracts with small community-based suppliers, such as the Cardiff Institute for the Blind, and in respect to contracting procedures generally.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe Ministry of Defence operates the provisions of the Government preference scheme in respect of priority suppliers, including the Cardiff Institute for the Blind. In essence this is designed to give such suppliers the opportunity to supply the widest possible range of the Ministry's requirements, but consistent with the need to consider value for the taxpayer's money.
We are constantly seeking to improve our procedures and practices, with the aim of improving value for money. The priority scheme apart, we do not in our contract procedures discriminate between suppliers of different size in our allocation of contracts. However, the practices employed have regard for the financial value of the contract concerned. Thus in general simplified procedures are employed for contracts of smaller value, and it is such contracts which are usually of most interest to small suppliers.
The MoD encourages new suppliers to make their capabilities known, and to this end have set up a new suppliers' service, with a small firms group within it, to help such concerns.