Tim Farron

Tim Farron

Liberal Democrat — Westmorland and Lonsdale

Speaking in the House of Commons on 19 May 2025

Debate

Defence Procurement: SMEs

Contribution

Given that at the moment only 4% of defence procurement goes to the SME sector, I very much welcome what the Secretary of State is saying about opening up that scope. Does he recognise, though, that part of the problem with SMEs getting defence contracts is not just the amount of money—although that is vital—but that the procurement portals and processes need to be accessible for smaller businesses with less of a back-room operation than the huge corporations? What can he say about that, particularly given that I represent a constituency in which the entire economy is SMEs?

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