§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the cost to his Department each year of inadequate reliability and maintainability of defence equipment. [5361]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe Ministry of Defence aims to maximise reliability and maintainability to the extent that this is cost-effective. Earlier and more systematic attention is paid to the R and M, and demonstrated achievement of R and M requirements is linked to contract payments. This approach has helped MOD achieve significance improvements compared with earlier generations of equipment, thereby saving costs and478W enhancing operational effectiveness. It is not possible to quantify the total yearly savings resulting from this R and M initiative.