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| Plan to privatise equipment agency could endanger troops, report warns | Plan to privatise equipment agency could endanger troops, report warns |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Ministry of Defence plans to privatise the multibillion-pound agency that provides the armed forces with military equipment appear ill thought out, could endanger British troops and are potentially undemocratic, according to a report by a leading security thinktank. | Ministry of Defence plans to privatise the multibillion-pound agency that provides the armed forces with military equipment appear ill thought out, could endanger British troops and are potentially undemocratic, according to a report by a leading security thinktank. |
| "History is littered with outsourcing deals that either or both parties eventually find constraining and/or, in practice, more expensive", says the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) report. "After the G4S and Olympics episode, the privatisation of the railways is the most obvious example of this, but there are many others." | "History is littered with outsourcing deals that either or both parties eventually find constraining and/or, in practice, more expensive", says the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) report. "After the G4S and Olympics episode, the privatisation of the railways is the most obvious example of this, but there are many others." |
| The report is by Rusi's acquisition focus group, which includes John Weston, former chief executive of BAE Systems; Sir Jeremy Blackham, formerly deputy chief of defence staff; and Sir Brian Burridge, vice-president of Finmeccanica UK and former chief of RAF strike command. | The report is by Rusi's acquisition focus group, which includes John Weston, former chief executive of BAE Systems; Sir Jeremy Blackham, formerly deputy chief of defence staff; and Sir Brian Burridge, vice-president of Finmeccanica UK and former chief of RAF strike command. |
| The plan to transform the MoD's defence equipment and support (DE&S) agency into a government-owned, contractor-operated (Goco) agency is being pushed by the ministry's head of equipment, Bernard Gray. Officials say it is based on the model for the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, which is responsible for designing, manufacturing and maintaining Britain's nuclear weapons. | The plan to transform the MoD's defence equipment and support (DE&S) agency into a government-owned, contractor-operated (Goco) agency is being pushed by the ministry's head of equipment, Bernard Gray. Officials say it is based on the model for the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, which is responsible for designing, manufacturing and maintaining Britain's nuclear weapons. |
| AWE is owned by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin UK and Serco, which have a 25-year contract to operate it until March 2025. The Rusi report says extending the model to DE&S is a high-risk option and the size and scope of the agency's functions are "much more diverse and complex than the development, production and support of nuclear weapons". | AWE is owned by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin UK and Serco, which have a 25-year contract to operate it until March 2025. The Rusi report says extending the model to DE&S is a high-risk option and the size and scope of the agency's functions are "much more diverse and complex than the development, production and support of nuclear weapons". |
| The Goco proposal, the report adds, "suffers from an inherent weakness, since it appears to rest on an argument that, because the government is not very good at negotiating and managing contracts with the private sector, it is going to negotiate an even bigger contract with a private-sector entity to undertake the entire task on its behalf. Persuasive arguments against this logic need to be marshalled." | The Goco proposal, the report adds, "suffers from an inherent weakness, since it appears to rest on an argument that, because the government is not very good at negotiating and managing contracts with the private sector, it is going to negotiate an even bigger contract with a private-sector entity to undertake the entire task on its behalf. Persuasive arguments against this logic need to be marshalled." |
| The plans raise a series of unanswered questions. Should a government hand over decisions on spending £16bn a year to a private company, especially when those decisions could mean the armed forces will depend on foreign suppliers? How would the US respond to the prospect of supplying classified information to a private consortium? How would a private company respond to the military's requests for urgent operational requirements, would it increase the chances that the military would be equipped with inappropiate and inadequate equipment, and how would a Goco be held to account by parliament? | The plans raise a series of unanswered questions. Should a government hand over decisions on spending £16bn a year to a private company, especially when those decisions could mean the armed forces will depend on foreign suppliers? How would the US respond to the prospect of supplying classified information to a private consortium? How would a private company respond to the military's requests for urgent operational requirements, would it increase the chances that the military would be equipped with inappropiate and inadequate equipment, and how would a Goco be held to account by parliament? |
| Rusi's report urges the MoD to carry out a full examination of the Goco proposal for DE&S to avoid "the unintended and potentially huge negative consequences that always emerge from complex and challenging undertakings, especially where the pros and cons have not been thoroughly examined". | Rusi's report urges the MoD to carry out a full examination of the Goco proposal for DE&S to avoid "the unintended and potentially huge negative consequences that always emerge from complex and challenging undertakings, especially where the pros and cons have not been thoroughly examined". |
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