§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts his Department currently hold with Thomson Training and Simulation Ltd.; if contracts placed with this company are cost plus; and what checks his Department carries out to ensure that value for money is achieved. [12123]
537W
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe central data maintained by my Department's Procurement Executive and the Defence Research and Evaluation Agency shows there are approximately 70 contracts currently open with the company. Of these, only 10 per cent. have been placed on what is commonly known as "cost plus" terms, and only one of these has been placed during the last five years). These figures include a number of contracts originally placed with different companies, for example Link-Miles Ltd., which have subsequently been subsumed into Thomson Training and Simulation Ltd. as the result of acquisition and organisation.
Where contracts are placed resulting from competition, then market forces ensure value for money. In other cases, including "cost plus", then contractors have to provide cost certificates and satisfy Ministry contracts officers and/or the pricing and quality services directorate as to their validity before final payments may be made.