§ 19. Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of defence equipment purchases is manufactured in the United Kingdom. [25112]
§ Mr. FreemanFigure 13 in the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1995"—CM 2800—shows that, over the past five years, my Department has spent some 79 per cent. of its equipment budget with United Kingdom industry, 12 per cent. on collaborative projects but placed in the UK and 9 per cent. with overseas companies. However, equipment bought from UK prime contractors is likely to include some components which have been manufactured overseas; similarly, equipment bought from overseas contractors may contain components which originated in the UK. The sourcing of components is a matter for the prime contractor, and so my Department is unable to estimate the percentage of equipment purchases which is manufactured in the UK.