The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Hammond)
My noble friend Lord Levene of Portsoken has conducted the first annual review of implementation of his defence reform report recommendations of June 2011, and has written to me setting out his conclusions.
I welcome Lord Levene’s recognition of the strong progress made to date in implementing his recommendations, and his confidence that the delivery of the majority of them will be achieved in time to transition to a new operating model for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in April 2013.
Some of the key changes of defence reform are already complete, such as strengthened top-level decision making and the focus on strategic direction from a newly-constituted Defence Board, which I chair. The Joint Forces Command has been established and its first commander appointed. Many other recommendations are on track for delivery by April 2013 with the implementation of the new delegated financial and military capability operating model: this will strengthen accountability and give the Service Chiefs much greater freedom to manage their resources and plan for future capability.
A few recommendations will take longer to complete. I acknowledge that there is more to do in some areas, such as development of the whole force concept and the delivery of improved management information, and I value Lord Levene’s continued interest and focus on these important changes.
I am placing a copy of Lord Levene’s letter in the Library of the House, together with the MOD’s summary of progress against the 53 defence reform recommendations.