Martin-Baker Aircraft issues Special Information Leaflets (SIL) to the Ministry of Defence as a contract deliverable for each aircraft type. The Department does not therefore necessarily receive a copy of every SIL issued by the company. Information on SILs relating solely to aircraft types and equipment that are no longer in-service is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. A list of those SILs that are known to have been received by the Department between 1990 and 1996, with contents summaries, will be placed in the Library of the House.
Key words - "contract deliverable". Key question - Was there a suitable and continuous contract in place? The funding for such contracts, as I've said many times, was chopped by 28% in three consecutive years, and the centralised management of this work stopped in June 1993. At the same time, the oversight committees were disbanded and the Agency contracts (paying specialist companies to collate and distribute such technical papers from Design Authorities) cancelled.
The admission the papers are "not held centrally" confirms what I've said. The question should be "Why not", because the regulations require them to be, and all procedures assume them to be.
edit: just removed an unnecessary bit.