Speculation over whether the UK would commit to the third tranche of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft ended today. The government announced its intention to purchase the aircraft, but the detail has still to be thrashed out, with contracts to be signed later in the year. The move should safeguard jobs in the UK's aerospace and defence sector at a time when manufacturing is being hit hard by the current downturn.
However, the uncertainty about the future, and indeed detail, of this and other defence projects gives even more weight to the need for a more coherent approach to procurement and government support for industry. Long term investment in strategic industries requires a strong signal from government about its priorities.
This was recognised in the government's recent New Industry, New Jobs document. While the government know it needs to be smarter about how it uses it £175bn procurement budget and it knows it needs a culture change in government departments to deliver best value for the long term from these budgets and it also knows how effective procurement can drive innovation and support new industries. Industry will be watching closely to see whether things are genuinely moving in this direction or whether talk of a more activist approach proves to be another false dawn.