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It’s broke, and it’s time to fix it: UK defence procurement system slammed
According to a just-published UK House of Commons Committee report, the UK’s defence procurement system needs a sense of urgency, less ‘requirements creep’, and better relationships with industry.
A report released by a sub-committee established by the UK House of Commons Defence Committee to focus on Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) has slammed UK defence procurement and called for far-reaching reform.
The DE&S is a part of the Ministry of Defence responsible for purchasing and maintaining the UK’s military equipment.
In the course of that inquiry, states the Defence Committee, “it rapidly became apparent that, while there are major issues within DE&S, there are also several wider factors, across Defence as a whole, which also materially impact our ability to procure equipment successfully.”
“We believe the system is now in need of major, comprehensive reform,” states the report’s summary. “We have discovered a UK procurement system which is highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety, very poor accountability and a culture which appears institutionally averse to individual responsibility.”
The inquiry report, titled It is broke – and it’s time to fix it: The UK’s defence procurement system, makes 22 specific recommendations aimed at overhauling the system, including giving Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) greater power over their programmes and improved rights of escalation “if programmes begin to go badly wrong”.
“These changes should also materially improve accountability to Parliament, which has to vote the funding for defence programmes in the first place,” states the summary.
According to the report, the UK is in need of a defence procurement system that places a much greater value on time, “promotes a sense of urgency rather than institutional lethargy, and prevents endless ‘requirements creep’ by our own military.”
Also emphasised is the importance of improving skills within DE&S, including a professional procurement stream within the military; extending time in post for key positions to improve continuity and giving access to specialist contract lawyers for authoring more robust contracts.
“We also stress that DE&S must improve its relationships with industry, from increasing transparency about forthcoming requirements, expanding the emphasis on exportability, better defining ‘social value’ in competitions, through to fostering critical skills, preventing skill-fade and encouraging and developing the Defence apprentices and workforce of the future.”
According to the report, these changes are made all the more necessary against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, which it characterises as a ‘game-changer’ in defence and security terms for the UK.
“Faced with a revanchist Russia, which is prepared to use high-tech weapons, from drones to cruise missiles, combined with barbaric methods, we can no longer take our national security for granted,” it stated. “In this new, more challenging environment we need a defence procurement system which can not only equip our Armed Forces to fight and to win, but also sustain them over time”.
