§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what complaints have been made by the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency to Feuchter in relation to the fitness for purpose of the Mark II combat gloves they have delivered; [129727]
(2) what experience Feuchter had in the manufacture of gloves prior to being awarded the contract for manufacture of the Mark II combat glove in 1998; [129726]
(3) how many Mark III combat gloves were manufactured in the UK by Feuchter; and how many Mark II combat gloves manufactured (a) by Feuchter and (b) by other companies have been (i) held to be unusable and (ii) rejected as unfit for their purpose; [129728]
(4) how many gloves were manufactured by Zova before expert glove cutting training was given to its staff; [129730]
(5) pursuant to his answer of 19 June 2000, Official Report, column 30W, on visits to Zova, what capabilities for glove making, as distinct from other leather working, this company demonstrated. [129729]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 7 July 2000]: The pre-production sample of Mark II Combat Gloves provided by Feuchter was found to be unacceptable. Feuchter took the necessary action to improve their production process and, as a result, all gloves subsequently delivered under the terms of the contract proved to be acceptable. No gloves manufactured by Feuchter were therefore formally rejected under the terms of the contract. Following inspection by DCTA staff, a total of 3,260 pairs of Mark II Combat Gloves manufactured by other companies were, however, rejected as being unfit for purpose.
Feuchter held five other DCTA contracts for the manufacture of mittens (extreme cold weather—inners, outers and liners), prior to the award of the contact for the manufacture of Mark II Combat Gloves in 1998. For the duration of the contract for the manufacture of the Mark II Combat Gloves, Feuchter sub-contracted the manufacturing operation to Zova in Poland; no gloves were manufactured in the UK by Feuchter. During their visits to view the manufacturing operation, DCTA staff were satisfied that Zova possessed the necessary capabilities for the manufacture of leather gloves, although a requirement for some additional training on the table cutting operation was identified. Some 47,000 pairs of gloves had been manufactured by Zova before this additional training was provided. No other leather working was being undertaken at the time of the visits, as Zova's manufacturing capacity was fully committed to fulfilling DCTA contracts.