This inquiry was postponed due to the General Election and is now being revisited by the newly constituted Defence Committee.
In 2015, the Strategic Defence and Security Review introduced a new National Security Objective to “Promote our Prosperity”. The Defence Industrial Policy refresh published in 2017 reaffirmed that “competition and strategic choice remain at the heart of our approach to defence procurement”, whilst committing to taking measures to protect freedom of action and operational advantage on national security grounds. It also laid out a three-pronged refresh to industrial policy, including:
- Improving the way defence delivers wider economic and international value, and national security objectives;
- Helping UK industry in its plans to be internationally competitive, innovative and secure; and
- Making it easier to do business with defence.
Supporting exports is now a core task of the MoD and has been incorporated into the National Shipbuilding Strategy (2017) and the Combat Air Strategy (2018).
Philip Dunne MP was commissioned by the then Defence Secretary to produce a report on “Growing the Contribution of Defence to UK Prosperity” which was published in 2018. He recommended that the MoD produce clearer, practical guidance on the prosperity factors defence is most likely to consider, the reasons for their importance and the primary metrics which might be used in assessing their value and relevance.
The Commitee will condsider new evidence, which can be submited till the deadline Thursday 23 April 2020. There is no need to resubmit previous written evidence.