§ 25. Mr. LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the contractorisation programme in the armed services.
§ Mr. AitkenFollowing the issue in 1991 of the Government's White Paper, "Competing for Quality", we have a programme to pursue market-testing opportunities worth £1.2 billion in the four years from April 1992 across the whole range of defence activities. The aim of the programme is to test the efficiency of in-house services and functions against competition from industry, thereby maximising value for money for the defence budget and the taxpayer. The recent defence costs study will inevitably have a significant impact on the scale of our future "Competing for Quality" programme, and decisions on the contents of the programme will be taken in the light of the outcome of the study.