Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 8
Ninth Report - It is broke — and it’s time to fix it: The UK’s defence procurement system
Published 16 Jul 2023
Paragraph 103
Defence Committee All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Procurement is a highly specialised and complex subject, which requires expert scrutiny, including from Parliamentarians. Unlike in the United States, UK Parliamentary Committees do not have “line item power” to alter individual aspects of the Defence budget, including on procurement programmes, which makes their remaining scrutiny function arguably even more important. Given that equipment purchasing and support now accounts for almost half of the entire defence budget, our main Committee now intends to hold at least two formal ‘Acquisition hearings’ each year, to scrutinise major procurement programmes in detail and the Ministry of Defence should provide access to all relevant information (if necessary at a classified level) in order to facilitate this.
From: Defence Committee, Ninth Report - It is broke — and it’s time to fix it: The UK’s defence procurement system (HC 1099), paragraph 103, 16 July 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 20 September 2023 (deadline 16 September 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government does not agree that the procurement system is broken, but accepts "the need for reform" and sets out reform work already under way across Defence.
- On the Committee's P75 recommendation, it agrees there is "a strong argument" for higher probability figures for schedule approval of complex programmes, and has issued guidance making P70 "the norm on schedule" for Government Major Projects Portfolio programmes. It says approval at a higher P value "will not improve project performance".
- It agrees on the need for more consistent dialogue with industry and on "an increased emphasis on time", but says it "would therefore not be desirable" to use the Urgent Capability Requirements approach across the whole defence portfolio.
- On accountability, it "recognises the need to clarify internal accountabilities", and says this will be addressed in the Defence Operating Model review. It says "active consideration" is being given to the CEO of DE&S joining the Defence Board.
- On SRO tenure, it notes there is "no formal mechanism" to keep an individual in post for five years, but says it continues to explore how to use available levers such as performance pay and pivotal role allowances.