§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what problems have arisen in the evaluation of the bids for the contract for the new wheeled support vehicles; how near these are to resolution; and if he will make a statement. [91872]
§ Mr. IngramNo problems have arisen, but evaluation of the tenders received in June 2002 for the Support Vehicle contract concluded that more information was needed on some aspects of the solution put forward by the bidders to enable a decision to be taken on which proposal represents best value for money. All four bidders have been invited to participate in a further round of tendering and responses are due on 22 January 2003. A further period of evaluation will then take place. An announcement on the award of a contract is planned for late 2003.