§ Lord Ironsideasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether non-compliant bids from foreign companies will be considered in the market-testing of support services for the Armed Forces, if they 50WA contain any offset proposals either (i) related to the bid, or (ii) geared to discharging outstanding contractual obligations to the Government, thereby placing British companies at a commercial disadvantage.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Viscount Cranborne)Non-compliant bids, whether from British or foreign companies, received in the course of market testing of support services for the Armed Forces would only be considered in the event that such bids represented a genuinely innovative and cost-saving response.
The question of offset is unlikely to arise in the market testing context but, if it were to do so, it could only be considered on a case-by-case basis. In the assessment of such bids we would give due regard to the need to ensure that British companies were not unreasonably disadvantaged.