§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)We intend to enter into a number of public-private partnerships, which will bring greater flexibility to our armed forces and increase the involvement of our defence industrial base. Under the Private Finance Initiative deal, the Amey Lex Consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder to provide the C Vehicle Capability for the services, both in peacetime and for forces on operations.
The contract will cover all heavy plant equipment as well as logistic support and construction machines required by the armed forces. Many of these components are used in digging, dozing, lifting and transporting. The great utility of this equipment could 144WS be seen on recent operations, building and maintaining the infrastructure for our troops. The contract is valued at over £500 million for the 15-year period.
Among the benefits are a more rapid fleet turnover, which will allow changes in technology and fleet management processes to be introduced more quickly and will reduce the maintenance and supply burden thereby benefiting front-line troops. The best elements of commercial practise will be used to support maintenance and repair, providing the opportunity to reduce spares holdings and to adopt a strategic pooling approach to the provision of the capability.
This is an excellent opportunity for defence suppliers to play a major part in ensuring our military capability is truly flexible in order to meet our future commitments.