Speeches by Scrogham.

“There has been £6.8 billion reallocated from Net Zero, Transport and other Department budgets. Has the Treasury made an analysis of the net growth impact of that reallocation?”

“If that is well understood and defence is the No. 1 priority of Government, why did it take 12 months of arguing to get this across the line? Whether you say there was a gap in it and there was a number—everyone seems to agree that there was, apart from yourselves—it took a year of arguing between these two Departments…”

“On growth and industry, are the Government right to prioritise buying British?”

“Chief Secretary, do you think that weighting procurement towards British firms will increase the costs?”

“Do you think that the MOD will understand the need to buy British and secure our sovereign capabilities and the supply chain over the cost ratio? If something overseas is slightly cheaper, the temptation has always been to go overseas.”

“We all realise how significant and difficult it was—”

“But you believe that the Treasury now understands that we need long-term decisions to be taken earlier, rather than delayed.”

“I think the root of it is that Hadrian’s wall was built quicker than we can get these contracts out. It is really not acceptable. I am amazed that any of these businesses stay in business, to be honest.”

“Okay, a year of negotiating between MOD and Treasury before we could actually get the DIP across the line. It is widely recognised that there was a gap in where the money was going to come from, and it took a year to get there. This is the No. 1 priority of Government and it has just got across the line in a year, and …”

“So you feel that the changes made for this DIP and SDR will alleviate those problems, and they have learned the lesson from that. That is for both of you—I just want a quick yes or no.”

“Are we now in agreement that going forward both parties will be working hand in glove and helping each other to ensure that defence spending is on target and on track? So far, we have not seen that happening. Six and a half years for a contract over £20 million does not sound like viable business. All those SMEs out th…”

“Negotiating.”

“Minister Pollard, would you agree that the lesson has been learned and that they now understand that long-term decisions have to be taken well in advance?”

“If you have not done that analysis, what would you expect?”

“I very much welcomed that pipeline, and the people of Barrow will welcome it too.”

“What lessons are being learned from the way we have procured in the past? A perfect example is Astute. They left it so late in deciding they could afford to buy it and order it that they started building it before the plans had been drawn up for it. Does the Treasury really understand what it means to order in defence?…”

“How can the Treasury help the MOD to change the culture around procurement?”

“My concern is that it is not coming from the top. When I asked the Chief of Defence Staff why we are not letting the public know what the threats are, his response was, “We don’t want to alarm people.” I would suggest that they should be alarmed.”

“Do you think that not just the public in general, but colleagues and MPs on the Benches here, physically understand where the threat is coming from and what we are facing?”

“Do you think that has worked?”