SSRO determination on the extent to which a contractor’s particular unanticipated costs are allowable costs under a firm-priced qualifying defence contract

The SSRO is empowered by the Defence Reform Act 2014 to determine how the regulatory framework for non-competed defence contracts should be applied in certain cases. In March 2023, the SSRO was asked by a defence contractor to determine the extent to which specific costs it had incurred in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic could be included in the price of a firm-priced contract with the Secretary of State for Defence.