Call for input: Transparency

The Secretary of State for Defence is required to conduct periodic reviews of the regulatory framework for single source defence contracts, with the SSRO providing its recommendations for the first of these by June 2017.

The regulatory framework was introduced by the Defence Reform Act 2014 and the Single Source Contract Regulations 2014. It aims to strike a balance between value for money for the taxpayer and fair prices for contractors by subjecting covered contracts to price control and by requiring suppliers to report a range of information to provide transparency.

F-35B Lightning II

The SSRO will be consulting widely before making its recommendations and it is now calling for input on the topic of transparency:

• Contract reporting – what information should contractors provide about qualifying defence contracts and qualifying sub-contracts?
• Duty to notify – what events and circumstances should contractors be required to notify?
• Supplier reporting – what information should suppliers provide about overheads, SMEs and industry capacity?
• Record keeping – what records should be kept and to what extent should there be open book access?

The SSRO’s call for input is intended to stimulate feedback in these key areas but representations on all issues relevant to the review are welcome.

This is an important opportunity to contribute to the formation of the SSRO’s recommendations.

The deadline for responses for this call for input is 4 November 2016. There will be further opportunities to contribute to the formation of the SSRO’s recommendations, including a widespread public consultation on the proposed recommendations which is scheduled for early 2017.

This is a public consultation, which is open to anyone with an interest in the SSRO’s two statutory aims of obtaining good value for taxpayers’ money and a fair and reasonable return for industry. We also welcome comments from people or organisations with a particular interest in defence (non-competitive) procurement.