Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Second Report - The Integrated Review, Defence in a Competitive Age and the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy
Defence Committee
HC 180
Published 28 July 2022
Recommendations
18
Accepted
Para 94
The Government should publish the actions agreed by each of the Departments as a result...
Recommendation
The Government should publish the actions agreed by each of the Departments as a result of the lessons learned exercises which examined the response to the Afghanistan crisis, together with a time frame for implementation.
Government Response Summary
The government states that it already outlined the lessons learned and exercises undertaken following the withdrawal from Afghanistan in its Official Response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report, published 29 July 2022, and the MOD publicly outlined its position to the Defence Committee.
Ministry of Defence
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Conclusions (4)
5
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 31
The Government needs to ensure that the public is aware of the link between the cost of living and global instability: the rises in energy and food prices are both directly attributable to the conflict in Ukraine. The Government needs to ensure that they are effectively communicating this to the …
Government Response Summary
The government states that the MOD has played a full part in the UK Government response in support of Ukraine, including supporting messaging on the link between the cost of living and global instability, through regular and transparent communication.
10
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 55
We are further concerned by the use of the UK Armed Forces as a ‘backfill’, employed to carry out civilian tasks by Departments which are seemingly unable to respond to crises themselves. This is compounded by the MOD’s failure to respond to the 18 recommendations made by the Reserves Review.
Government Response Summary
The MOD will only provide military support as a last resort and is in line with agreed contingency plans and arrangements to provide UK resilience and work is underway across Defence to transform systems, policies, and processes regarding reserve forces.
16
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 92
Integration is key to the effective implementation of the Integrated Review and the Defence Command Papers. It is clear that this requires a long-term commitment, with decisions consistently re-evaluated as progress is made. It further requires a cohesive, effective and dedicated Government which is able to work collaboratively towards a …
Government Response Summary
The government has adopted an approach to drive the IR's objectives within the existing core business of all relevant Departments, agencies and bodies and is upgrading its culture and capabilities to improve decision-making, performance and impact.
17
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 93
If Afghanistan was intended to be an example of effective policy integration in action then it leaves a lot to be desired. It is even more worrying given that the NSC apparently gave the political direction required to bring together a ‘whole- of-systems’ approach. If the NSC set the appropriate …
Government Response Summary
The government states that UK policy on Afghanistan has been made across Government, co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office, working to Cabinet Ministers in the relevant Cabinet Sub-Committee.