HC Deb 19 July 1995 vol 263 cc1356-7W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton on 10 July,Official Report, column 466, what is his Department's calculation of the financial benefits to Royal Ordnance of the EPREP—explosives, propellants and related end products—agreement. [35133]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The Ministry of Defence can assess the financial benefit of the EPREP agreement to Royal Ordnance only in terms of its total value which amounts to orders to the value of £560 million during the five-year tenure of the agreement.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the explosives. propellants and end products agreement. [35132]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The explosives, propellants and related end products agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Royal Ordnance plc, now the Royal Ordnance Division of British Aerospace Defence Ltd., is "commercial-in-confidence". It is not the practice of Government to place commercial-in-confidence documents in the House of Commons Library.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what agreement, formal or informal, covered the matters now covered by the explosives, propellants and related end products agreement before its signing. [35051]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The explosives, propellants and end products agreement subsumed two previous agreements: the explosives and propellants agreement of 18 August 1986, as amended by subsequent side letters, and the small arms ammunition agreement of September 1986. The E and P agreement attempted to secure the capability of producing certain military explosives and propellants in the UK by the MOD undertaking to procure its requirements from the Royal Ordnance for the duration of the agreement, that is, until August 1989. The SAA agreement derived from the E and P agreement and specifically committed the MOD to placing non-competitively with RO its requirements for 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition for the period 1986–87 —to 1988–89 and 9 mm ammunition for the period 1987–88 to 1988–89.