Assets bought by the Ministry of Defence under a short-term contract were seized by the Polish authorities during an investigation into the supplier and could not be recovered, producing a fruitless payment of £1.039 million, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked what the specific nature of the payment was, referring to the losses section of the department’s annual report and accounts for 2025 to 2026.
Luke Pollard, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: “The fruitless payment of £1.039 million related to assets procured under a short-term contract let in line with existing normal processes. This included a due diligence visit to verify manufacturing capabilities, supply chain and deliverability of the requirement. The procurement formed part of a project involving multiple government stakeholders, which increased its complexity. The assets were subsequently seized by the Polish authorities as part of an independent investigation into the supplier which was unrelated to the Ministry of Defence’s procurement activity. As a result, the assets could not be recovered or returned to the Department.”
A second loss in the same accounts was also put to the minister, asked about the nature of the fruitless payment recorded against Project SERAPH, Mr Pollard said: “A fruitless payment of £1.354 million was made to Deloitte following the termination for convenience of the Project SERAPH contract. The payment was made in accordance with the contractual terms and was negotiated by the Department.”
Termination for convenience is the clause that lets a customer end a contract without the supplier being at fault, and the payment is what the department owed Deloitte for doing so. No explanation was given for why the contract was cancelled.
