The procurement system the government inherited was slow, expensive and not fit for a period of warfighting readiness, and procurement segmentation and new commercial pathways are intended to make buying more agile while opening opportunities to small firms and innovators, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Edward Morello, the Liberal Democrat member for West Dorset, asked what steps the department is taking to improve defence procurement.
Luke Pollard, the Minister of State for Defence, said: “The procurement system we inherited was broken. Defence procurement was slow, expensive and not fit for a period of war fighting readiness.
“Through our Procurement Segmentation and new Commercial Pathways, we are making procurement more agile, opening up opportunities for SMEs and innovators, and ensuring every pound of defence spending delivers stronger military capability and better value for the taxpayer.”
Segmentation sorts what the department buys into categories and applies different rules and timescales to each, so that a software capability or a drone does not pass through the same approval machinery as a submarine. Major platforms keep the full process, while fast-moving categories run on compressed timelines designed to be measured in months.
This publication reported when the department outlined the reforms and pledged an SME action plan, and the Defence Office for Small Business Growth was launched at the start of this year to give smaller suppliers a route in. Spending with small and medium sized enterprises is published annually by region in the department’s regional expenditure statistics.
