According to the Belfast Telegraph, the British government's plans to purchase military equipment via a private consortium will be dropped officially. The UK government arrived to the decision after all but one external bidder pulled out from the consortium. The Belfast Telegraph said Ministry of Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is left to sort out other options within the private sector even though its tendering process with that sector had fallen through.
UK's defense ministry intended to outsource the acquisition of equipment for the military to a private organization, the report said. The private organization is said to be under the government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) agreement. However last month, Hammond told other the other members of the UK Parliament that two of the three interested parties had withdrew from the plan, and indicated his skepticism that the plan will proceed as he expressed a need to conduct a review whether the government should proceed with its plans.
Hammond said earlier, "(I would examine) whether it is in the public interest to proceed with only a single commercial bidder and an internal option, or whether alternative approaches should be considered".
The report said options that Hammond and the UK government could take included a private sector partner to assist the Ministry of Defence to make the military equipment purchases more efficient.
Chiefs of UK's defense ministry had been criticized heavily as they were said to have been wasting massive amounts of taxpayers' money on high-priced equipment deals that did not push through.
One source told the newspaper, "No final decisions have been made but it is looking increasingly likely that the Defense Secretary will end the commercial competition. If that were to happen, we would then announce our alternative plans for reforming defense acquisition. It is clear that the status quo is not acceptable and reform is needed to bring in private sector skills and experience."
Join the Conversation