HC Deb 22 April 2004 vol 420 cc658-9W
Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether other universities were invited to tender for the contract awarded to the Bradford University School of Peace Studies by the Ministry of Defence; [167314]

(2) if he will place in the Library the draft syllabus presented by the Bradford University School of Peace Studies to the Ministry of Defence before the training contract was signed; [167313]

(3) what inquiries were made into the practical military and peacekeeping experience of Bradford University School of Peace Studies staff before the awarding of a Ministry of Defence contract; and what the results were; [167312]

(4) what reason Bradford University's School of Peace Studies has been selected to teach UK soldiers about conflict resolution; whether this decision was taken at ministerial level; and what the overall cost will be. [167311]

Mr. Ingram

Bradford University is one of nine Universities recently awarded contracts to deliver the Armed Forces' University Short Course Programme to Service personnel. Contract advertisements were placed in major bulletins, such as the Ministry of Defence's Contracts Bulletin and other appropriate media, and fourteen Universities tendered for elements of the programme, which delivers a range of 44 different courses.

Bradford University's Department of Peace Studies successfully tendered for four courses from the programme. All bids for courses were subjected to detailed technical evaluation against key criteria, including the academic experience of the relevant institution. Contracts were awarded on the basis of fair and open competition to the best overall bidder.

The contract award did not require a ministerial decision since these are replacement contracts for existing arrangements. The decision was taken by the three Service sponsors, Training Group Defence Agency for the RAF, Army Training and Recruitment Agency and Naval Recruitment and Training Agency.

The overall cost of the Conflict Resolution course will depend on the actual uptake of the course across the five year period, but will not exceed £125K.

The MOD's prospectus for the University Short Course Programme 2004–05 is currently being prepared and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House once it has been published. This is likely to be in the Summer.