§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the cost of defence projects should be allocated to de-risking in the early stages of projects in order to comply with best practice; and whether sufficient funds are made available for this purpose on a case-by-case basis. [HL6]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)Integrated project teams (IPT's) take appropriate measures to de-risk their projects prior to the main gate investment decision to provide confidence that the project will deliver within proposed performance, time and cost boundaries. The cost and time required adequately to de-risk a project are dependent on a number of factors including its complexity and the initial maturity of the component technologies. Departmental guidance suggests that up to 15 per cent may be spent to de-risk the project but this is not interpreted as a target. The amount budgeted for individual projects reflects the results of more detailed analysis on a case-by-case basis.