Jon Thompson
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence
Which events or policies have dominated your attention during 2012?
Defence’s priorities always start with operations. For 2012 that has mainly meant sustaining the campaign in Afghanistan, and the challenges posed by the Olympics – which for the MoD turned out to be slightly larger than originally expected. We also balanced the defence budget for the first time in years; worked out the major and long-term military capability decisions on carriers, the size and shape of the Army, and the Reserve Forces; and have been driving forward a once-in-a-generation transformation programme, including staff reductions in the tens of thousands. And that’s a fairly selective list. We tackled this all by maintaining a relentless strategic focus at the top level, making it clear to our people what we needed, and trusting them to deliver.
How have the shape and capabilities of your department changed during 2012?
Like everywhere else we’ve shrunk over the year, and that has had an impact on resilience. So we have been working hard at finding better and simpler ways of doing business – in line with Lord Levene’s defence reform recommendations – and being much clearer about priorities. We are also doing a lot of work to bring in private sector partners where they can add value: in support services; in the way we manage infrastructure and information systems; and in the way we buy and maintain military equipment. And we are part way through a programme radically reshaping how the department works, including setting up a new Joint Forces Command and taking forward the work to delegate much more responsibility to empowered senior leaders, overseen by a smaller and more strategic head office. Transforming the MoD will take years, but we have made an excellent start.
Which aspects of the Civil Service Reform Plan are most important to improving the capabilities and operations of your department?
Our new operating model is critically dependent on being more rigorous about performance management, holding people properly to account for what they have – or have not – achieved. We must get better at supporting our people with management information and IT systems in order to improve decision making and the conduct of everyday business; this has been made very clear to me through internal feedback. And as I said, we need to draw on best external practice to find simpler and better ways to run the business – which remains, to use the defence secretary’s recent description, fiendishly complex.
What are the main challenges facing your department in 2013?
Sustaining the campaign in Afghanistan while preparing for the end of combat operations by the end of 2014, and delivering on any other operational commitments that arise, will remain our priority. Alongside that, we have to drive on the reform programme, roll out the new delegated operating model, and make it work – including embedding the necessary behavioural and cultural changes: not easy in an organisation of more than 230,000 people. We have to modernise in general, and in particular modernise military and civil service terms and conditions to maintain, or try to improve, the morale and motivation of the workforce. This is our critical leadership challenge for the year ahead.
Tell your colleagues a good joke for Christmas
Why did Santa quit smoking?
Because it was bad for his elf.
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