John Healey, the defence secretary, has announced a series of reforms to strengthen accountability, and reduce duplication, process and procedure.
In a speech at the Institute for Government think tank, Healey said “extraordinary people” across defence are “doing extraordinary things within a system that very often doesn’t work in the way that we need it to”.
He said he has found in his first six months as defence secretary that there is an “absence of clear, consistent accountability, central to the effectiveness of any organisation”, duplication of “even the most central tasks”, and that defence is “mired in process and procedure”.
Healey said his reform plan to address these issues will deliver the “biggest shake up of UK defence for over 50 years”.
Healey said he will introduce clear points of accountability at every level within UK defence in a new system with four senior leaders at the top who report to ministers: the permanent secretary, chief of the defence staff, chief of defence nuclear, and a new armaments director.
As part of this structure, the perm sec will run a “leaner, more agile department of state with more policy muscle to lead arguments across Whitehall and with allies”, Healey said. Senior civil servants in the MoD will be “elevated” into “policymakers with broad portfolios and powerful mandates”, the defence secretary added.
Healey said the new “quad” will be up and running from 31 March, alongside finance reforms to cut waste, reduce duplication and turn the MoD into a department "that manages money better to secure better value for money". He said this will include reducing the number of top line budget holders from 10 to four – one for each of the new quad – and introducing three new centrally determined financial budgets: readiness, operations, and investment.
Healey said this will bring an end to the "Levene" reforms introduced by the the coalition government in 2012. He said “many recent failings” in the department can be "can be traced back" to these reforms, which "produced too much duplication, too much waste" and a system where only two out of 49 major defence projects are now on time and on budget.
Healey added: “This is not a change for change’s sake programme. This is because it is required, in my view, for us more effectively to meet the challenges of the times. It’s required, in my view, in order to give us the foundation for implementing the strategic defence review.”
Healey’s announcements come ahead of the publication of the strategic defence review later this year, which the government has said will determine “the future defence posture of the UK, the capabilities needed and set out a roadmap to achieving 2.5% of GDP on defence”.
'Talented officials want greater scope to take initiative'
Following the speech, Healey was asked by IfG director Hannah White what will be different this time, given many defence secretaries have attempted to reform the department.
Healey said he has been "impressed and encouraged by how receptive a defence is, how ready defence is for this reform".
"I come across many just really talented officials who want greater scope to be able to take the initiative, who want the ability to offer the advice and make the decisions, and it goes right across the board and right to the top," he said.
"But," he added, "I'm under no illusion that in the end, this will only happen if I continue for the whole of the time that I am privileged to be in this post to make this one of my first priorities as defence secretary."