Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

AUKUS Procurement: SMEs

Monday 6 January 2025 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Mr Richard Holden questioned the Secretary of State about the impact of business property relief abolition and increased national insurance on SMEs.
  • The Secretary of State acknowledged past Conservative government policies were often blind to the location of British firms and contract distribution.
  • The Secretary of State highlighted the current government's commitment to strengthening domestic businesses and procurement practices.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Richard Holden Con Basildon and Billericay
Defence Business & Trade
Context

The AUKUS partnership is expected to create new contract opportunities for UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but concerns have been raised about the economic impacts of recent policy changes.

Question

As the Secretary of State knows, under the defence equipment plan about half of MOD expenditure is on equipment, with around 40% of that going overseas. What impact does the Secretary of State think that the Government’s abolition of business property relief and the massive increase in national insurance will have on UK SMEs’ ability to compete in the defence sector with our AUKUS allies following the previous Government’s signing of that agreement?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Defence (John Healey)

It is certainly the case, as the right hon. Gentleman rightly recognises, that in government the Conservatives were too often largely blind to where British firms were based and to where the contracts that they were ready to award went. This Government have come into power committed not just to strengthening UK security but to boosting the UK economy. That means designing, making and buying more in Britain.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The impact of business property relief abolition and national insurance increase on SMEs' ability to compete in AUKUS procurement was not directly addressed.

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