§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to sell reserve spare military equipment; and what measures are in place to monitor the availability of equipment for UK forces. [72542]
§ Dr. MoonieWhen the Ministry of Defence updates its equipment, surplus and obsolete items are sold on a Government-to-Government basis, by competitive tender, public auction or through an incentivised marketing partnership with industry in order to achieve the best return for the taxpayer. When declared as surplus, the disposal by sale of defence assets rests solely with the Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA) I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 12 JuneOfficial Report, column 1260W to my hon. Friend for Reading, East (Ms Griffiths) that recorded the DSA's Key Targets for financial year 2002–03. I also refer to the DSA's Annual Report and Accounts that was laid before the House on 19 July and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House upon publication.
The Ministry of Defence has a comprehensive set of procedures in place to ensure the availability of equipment to the front line and ensure that timely action is taken in the event that problems are identified. The Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) has Customer Supplier Agreements (CSAs) with front line commands that set out logistic support requirements all of which are monitored regularly in terms of performance. The Disposal Services Agency has a Customer Supplier Agreement with the Defence Logistics Organisation to ensure that clear disposal targets are set and monitored.