§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on his policy with regard to bringing the delivery, cost and quality records of potential subcontractors to the notice of a defence prime contractor; [143368]
(2) in what circumstances he would direct the attention of a defence prime contractor to the delivery, cost and quality records of a potential subcontractor. [143448]
34W
§ Mr. IngramThe Ministry of Defence and its suppliers operate within the terms of the Codes of Best Practice to promote better working relationships in defence acquisition.
It is principally the responsibility of the Department's prime contractors to select and manage the performance of their subcontractors. Many prime contractors deploy their own schemes for tracking supplier performance.
It is not general policy to disclose details of an individual supplier's performance to other suppliers because such information would be commercially confidential. Only in exceptional cases involving, for example, national security or safety issues, would potential subcontract sourcing be considered as part of the Invitation to Tender for the prime contract.