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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) should set out an explicit industrial strategy for defence procurement, the Commons’ Defence Committee said in a report published yesterday. Such a strategy would ensure that procurement decisions take account of their likely impact on British businesses, rather than simply pursuing value for money.
The head of military equipment at the Ministry of Defence this week defended delays to major projects which were criticised in a report last month by the National Audit Office.
As the British task force neared the Falkland Islands in 1982, cabinet secretary Sir Robert Armstrong sent prime minister Margaret Thatcher a briefing note raising the question of whether the UK should consider ceding some British territory in the south Atlantic to the Argentinians, documents released under the 30 year rule reveal.
Jon Thompson Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence
Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development
Robert Devereux Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Simon Fraser Permanent Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
As the National Security Council (NSC) has been evolving, the Home Office has been “looking at the types of subjects it has been taking”, home secretary Teresa May told the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on Monday.
The Ministry of Defence is struggling to build a financial management system that determines a “single version of the financial truth” and there is a “high risk to delivery” of the department’s strategy for setting out clear management information (MI), according to the Defence Review Annual Report published yesterday by Lord Levene.
The sale of Ministry of Defence (MoD) radio frequences could raise £1bn, the Financial Times reported this week. Two radio bands are being sold, with two industry experts telling the newspaper that each is likely to net £4-500m.
A gathering of civil service chiefs from around the world has identified a need for western governments to strengthen their horizon-scanning and strategic planning capabilities, with former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell calling for the UK to commission think tanks to develop policy on some of the long-term issues that it’s “difficult” for governments to tackle.
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The Ministry of Defence’s procurement arm – Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) – can only continue to offer current levels of service for the department if some jobs are outsourced, its boss Bernard Gray, chief of defence materiel, told the Commons’ Defence Committee yesterday.
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Tight rules control how troops can engage in combat; but the regime governing how former military figures can sell their skills and contacts to private companies are much weaker. Joshua Chambers assesses the system.
Now new permanent secretary Jon Thompson has his feet well under the table at the Ministry of Defence, he will be on the receiving end of a lot of good – and not so good – advice. I can offer a few thoughts about how the momentum of reform can best be maintained in a high-tempo department characterised by its preponderance of alpha personalities and diversity of vested interests.
The Ministry of Defence’s new permanent secretary, Jon Thompson, tells Matt Ross how he intends to turn this most complex of Whitehall departments into a more professional operation – and dig it out of its financial hole
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has learned lessons about appropriate timescales and evidence-gathering from the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), MoD permanent secretary Jon Thompson has told CSW, and work has already begun on a 2015 SDSR.
When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy on 19 June, he created a dispute over when a diplomatic mission enjoys ‘inviolability’. The subject of an extradition request from Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual molestation, he’d exhausted legal remedies against his extradition when he entered the embassy, apparently with its prior agreement. So what does international law say?
The new secretary of state for international development, Justine Greening, has launched a “line by line” review of all UK aid spending.
From October a new cyber research institute hosted by University College London will begin a 3.5-year programme to investigate ways to improve cyber security.
The think tank contracted by the Cabinet Office to provide external policy advice on the future of civil service accountability has published research setting out its conclusions on the topic, CSW can reveal.