The Labour MP questioned how the proposed changes would prevent similar failures seen in programmes such as Ajax and Morpheus. She also asked about delays in announcing new medium helicopter procurements and whether the integrated model will speed up or slow down processes.

Defence procurement matters, providing vital kit for our forces while supporting UK jobs and economic growth. However, it is a mess, needing deep reform with £15 billion wasted since 2010; £5 billion in this Parliament alone. With 46 of 52 major projects not on time or on budget, the Government fails British forces and taxpayers. How does the Minister’s proposed changes address Ajax procurement failures? It was supposed to see vehicles in service by 2017 but now will be in use until 2026, with £4 billion spent for just 44 vehicles delivered. Can his proposals prevent similar issues with E-7 Wedgetail and Morpheus communication system procurements?

I congratulate the Minister on his statement focusing on data collection and making certain we are AI-ready. I am delighted about DSTL’s enhanced role, consistent with the defence security industrial strategy. Above all, emphasis on spiral development and the new concept of the MDC is welcome. SROs who have enough bandwidth, support, time, and length on a project are critical for success.

I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, and for his honesty in detailing the complexity and difficulties involved in defence procurement. I wish him every success with the proposals that he has outlined. Back in December, a National Audit Office report stated that the MOD faced a £16.9 billion black hole in equipment funding. I did not hear any mention in the statement of how that would be addressed, and I fear that it may not be covered in the Budget, so perhaps the Minister could enlighten me. Will he also tell me whether he can guarantee that we will able to meet the requirement for essential contributions to both NATO and Ukraine during this time of conflict? Also missing from the statement were any details of the post-Brexit defence sector labour shortages—how do the Government plan to address those shortages in order to support the sector?—and any reference to parliamentary scrutiny, especially with regard to the nuclear programme. What assurances can the Minister give that the programme will be scrutinised by the Defence Committee and by Parliament? Also, given that we are working with allies to support Ukraine, which I welcome, do we not now need a mechanism such as a comprehensive defence security treaty with the European Union to further that? There is a considerable emphasis on prioritising exportability. Do the Government acknowledge that arms exports and procurement programmes with the state of Israel could make us complicit in war crimes? That is a concern for many members of the public, and I would be grateful for the Minister’s comments on it.

I remind the House of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I commend my hon. Friend for the remarkable pace at which he has got to grips with the challenges of acquisition in defence. He has not been in post for very long, but he has brought intellectual rigour to those challenges, which some of us have been trying to do for a while. I also endorse everything that was said by the Chair of the Select Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Sir Jeremy Quin), who is an expert on these issues. I am particularly pleased that he has sought to bring the learning from the current conflict in Ukraine back into our own system here in the UK. Other countries are learning how to adapt their acquisition systems rapidly, and we need to do the same. I completely endorse the integrated procurement model. Its precursors were in the complex weapons programme, which has been running for more than 10 years. I think the fact that my hon. Friend has referred to it in the current contract that he announced yesterday for the next stage of the competition for the medium helicopter lift is a good example of that. He spoke about introducing agility, about exportability and about innovation. Many of us have been pushing the MOD to proceed with all those developments. The spiral development and, in particular, the move from an initial and a final operator capability to a minimum deployable should have a huge impact on the acceleration of processes. SROs have been referred to. If my hon. Friend can consider extending terms— double or triple terms—for service personnel and key civil servants in that role, he will assist enormously in retaining knowledge within the system.

Is it is right for the Minister to seek to reform a defence procurement system that the Public Accounts Committee has described as “broken”? The shadow Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), has just delivered a speech to Policy Exchange, in which he set out that a future Labour Government will create a national armaments director to co-ordinate and oversee defence procurement. Why have this Government not done that in the last 14 years?

Forgive me, Sir, but—Yes! [Laughter.] I have waited for years to hear an MOD Minister issue this statement, and this very good Minister has done just that. It is true that the Public Accounts Committee said that the procurement system was broken, and last summer the Defence Committee endorsed that in a report, produced by a Sub-Committee that I chaired, entitled “It is broke—and it’s time to fix it”. Well, I take this to be the “fix it” or “put right” plan. I welcome it, and in particular the sense of urgency that goes with it. Given that the Defence Secretary has told us that we now live in a pre-war rather than a post-war world, we must do this sooner and, crucially, faster. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but can the Minister assure me and the whole House that the sense of urgency that I mentioned will be at the centre of this, and that he and Andy Start will now get on with it?

I would like to pick up on the point about urgency. We have seen what the UK is capable of in defence acquisition from urgent capability requirements or, previously, urgent operational requirements. These harness the ingenuity of British industry and combine it with the professionalism of the British armed forces personnel. They remove bureaucracy, focus on the capability rather than detailed specifications, and deliver amazing equipment in very short timescales. A great example is the Jackal, the all-terrain mobility platform that was developed at Dunkeswell in my Honiton constituency. How much is the new integrated procurement model informed by the UCR process?

Suggests the importance of procurement teams being responsible for entire capability lifecycle, stresses the need for an arbiter of good taste within strat comms and welcomes the formation of IDA to bring rigour.

Emphasises the importance of removing delay from defence programmes due to international security concerns, highlights the role of specification changes in complexity, cost and delay.

Highlights the need for a wholesale transformation of culture, attitude and behaviour in MOD with emphasis on training and professional development.

Asks about potential benefits for organisations like Leonardo Helicopters from recent procurement reforms, particularly in the context of New Medium Helicopter procurement.

Proposes longer terms for SROs across all defence programmes, raises concerns about single source contracts and value for money.

Thanking the Minister for his visit and highlighting the importance of defence engineers at Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land and Babcock in Shropshire, asks about future job opportunities.