1 INTRODUCTION
1. The Government's Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS)
was published on 15 December 2005[1]
with the aim of providing greater transparency to the UK's future
defence requirements and, for the first time, setting out those
industrial capabilities the UK needs to maintain appropriate sovereignty
and operate equipment independently.
2. Following the publication of the DIS we undertook
an inquiry and reported on 10 May 2006.[2]
During our inquiry we examined the implementation timetable for
the DIS and the Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson,
told us that:
2006 is the year that we seriously implement
it [the DIS] to be able to show results…that we really have
made a difference…I am in a hurry to show in 2007 that this
has made a real difference to our defence capability and the strength
of our defence industry.[3]
3. Lord Drayson helpfully provided us with a checklist
setting out when the various actions in the different areas were
to be completed by, for example, completion of the Maritime and
the Research and Technology (R&T) strategies.[4]
The vast majority of these actions were to be completed during
2006. Given the importance of the DIS we planned to monitor closely
the progress in implementing it and whether the expected benefits
were delivered. This inquiry examines the progress made in the
first 12 months following the publication of the DIS.
4. In undertaking our inquiry, we took oral evidence
on 19 December 2006 from Lord Drayson, Minister for Defence Procurement;
Mr David Gould CB, Deputy Chief Executive, Defence Procurement
Agency; Mr Amyas Morse, Defence Commercial Director; and Mr Mark
Gibson, Director General Enterprise and Business Group, Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI).[5]
We received written evidence from the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) and others.[6] We
are grateful to all those who contributed to our inquiry including
our specialist advisers.
1 Ministry of Defence, Defence Industrial Strategy,
December 2005, Cm 6697 Back
2
Defence Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2005-06, The Defence
Industrial Strategy, HC 824 Back
3
HC (2005-06) 824, Q 289 Back
4
HC (2005-06) 824, Ev 118-120 Back
5
Ev 1-20 Back
6
Ev 21-43 Back
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