Stephen Barclay
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many urgent operational requirements have been identified in each of the last three years; how many such requirements have not been fulfilled; and how many such requirements were delivered (a) later than originally planned and (b) over budget.
[Official Report, 21 May 2012, Vol. 545, c. 438-39W.]
Letter of correction from Philip Dunne:
An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay) on 21 May 2012.
The full answer given was as follows:
Peter Luff
[holding answer 15 May 2012]: Urgent operational requirements (UORs) address urgent and unforeseen capability gaps in support of a current or imminent military operation by providing for the rapid purchase or modification of equipment. Where a requirement is specific to a particular operational theatre and can be delivered quickly, it will be funded from the Government Reserve rather than the Defence budget.
According to departmental records, the numbers of Urgent Statements of User Requirement which have been endorsed by the Permanent Joint Headquarters and subsequently entered the urgent operational requirement process are as follows for the past three years:
FY 2009-10 | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Requirements entering UOR process | 154 | 115 | 58 |
Subsequently cancelled | 53 | 22 | 4 |
Business cases under development | 3 | 19 | 40 |
Of the remaining endorsed requirements:
FY 2009-10 | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Delivered on time or early | 60 | 26 | 4 |
On track to deliver on time | 8 | 25 | 8 |
Delivered, or now planned for delivery, later than originally approved equipment delivery date | 30 | 23 | 2 |
Within approved cost | 93 | 70 | 14 |
Exceeding approved cost | 5 | 4 | 0 |
Note: The requirement for some UORs can change over time and the original approval dates and costs may subsequently be adjusted to allow these changes to be addressed. Therefore not all the instances of later delivery or cost growth represent shortcomings in project management or initial estimating. |
Not all requirements which enter the UOR process, progress to a business case and subsequent delivery stages. The reasons for the cancellations shown in the table may include the fact that, while a requirement may be extant, there is currently no equipment solution that can meet it. In such cases, attempts will be made to mitigate the risk through a non-equipment solution such as changing tactics, techniques or procedures. In other cases, the requirement may be cancelled by commanders in theatre because the evolving nature of operations means it is no longer needed. The ‘Business cases under development’ entry in the table represents those requirements where a solution is still being identified or the details finalised prior to approval.
The correct answer should have been:
Peter Luff
[holding answer 15 May 2012]: Urgent operational requirements (UORs) address urgent and unforeseen capability gaps in support of a current or imminent military operation by providing for the rapid purchase or modification of equipment. Where a requirement is specific to a particular operational theatre and can be delivered quickly, it will be funded from the Government Reserve rather than the Defence budget.
According to departmental records, the numbers of Urgent Statements of User Requirement which have been endorsed by the Permanent Joint Headquarters and subsequently entered the urgent operational requirement process are as follows for the past three years:
FY 2009-10 | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Requirements entering UOR process | 144 | 106 | 54 |
Subsequently cancelled | 51 | 28 | 13 |
Business cases under development | 4 | 3 | 19 |
Of the remaining endorsed requirements:
FY 2009-10 | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Delivered on time or early | 60 | 55 | 13 |
On track to deliver on time | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Delivered, or now planned for delivery, later than originally approved equipment delivery date | 26 | 18 | 3 |
Within approved cost | 80 | 71 | 22 |
Exceeding approved cost | 9 | 4 | 0 |
Note: The requirement for some UORs can change over time and the original approval dates and costs may subsequently be adjusted to allow these changes to be addressed. Therefore not all the instances of later delivery or cost growth represent shortcomings in project management or initial estimating. |
Not all requirements which enter the UOR process, progress to a business case and subsequent delivery stages. The reasons for the cancellations shown in the table may include the fact that, while a requirement may be extant, there is currently no equipment solution that can meet it. In such cases, attempts will be made to mitigate the risk through a non-equipment solution such as changing tactics, techniques or procedures. In other cases, the requirement may be cancelled by commanders in theatre because the evolving nature of operations means it is no longer needed. The ‘Business cases under development’ entry in the table represents those requirements where a solution is still being identified or the details finalised prior to approval.