Minister for Defence Procurement Oral Statement On New Integrated Procurement Model
28 Feb 24. With your permission Mr Speaker I would like to make a assertion on our options for reform of MOD’s Acquisition program:
…Nimrod
…snatch land rovers.
…Ajax
…Crowsnest
…Morpheus.
The narrative of our acquisition process has extended been dogged by key programmes that ended up variously: above-sophisticated above-spending plan more than time.
Of class, navy procurement is intricate. And exterior variables, significantly source chain disruption, have brought on delays throughout the board – which are very likely to go on hitting programmes for the time currently being.
It is also real that our procedure has excelled at procuring wide portions of ordnance into Ukraine.
We have not been standing nonetheless – we have been figuring out and addressing the systemic issues that impression on shipping and learning and applying classes from expertise.
We have been driving pace and agility by streamlined processes and rising the capacity and potential of the Senior Responsible Homeowners.
In excess of the previous 6 yrs, Defence Tools and Guidance has appear a very long way in its internal reform attempts.
However, the longstanding weaknesses of Defence acquisition are well recognised, such as:
A tendency to ‘exquisite’ procurement… perhaps as well bespoke to export, leaving industrial ability susceptible.
As Sheldon’s Ajax report assessed, staff cautious of speaking up as challenges arise.
In individual, and in my look at the most sizeable, the model of delegated authority executed after Lord Levene’s 2011 report – that was meant to generate monetary obligation but as an alternative helps make prioritisation tricky to reach in follow.
With budgets underneath pressure from inflation, the final result is unavoidable – what we simply call ‘over-programming’ in the absence of successful prioritisation, far too many jobs chasing a finite amount of money of funding.
Inadvertently, this drives a level of competition in between the three one services – every single vying to get their programme on agreement, figuring out funding is around-subscribed.
These kinds of ‘over-programming’ can only be dealt with in one way.
Delay – shifting programmes to the appropriate to make the textbooks stability.
But Mr Speaker, none of these problems evaluate to the most persuasive rationale for reform.
In a world exactly where our adversaries are threatening to out-contend us in capacity terms we have no selection but to reform acquisition – or see our military competitiveness diminished.
Ukraine has demonstrated that today’s battlespace is hugely contested.
Built-in operations are necessary.
In 2021 we declared the ‘Integrated Functioning Concept’ – recognising the army require for an integrated idea of operations, but preserving a delegated procurement process.
So these days, I announce our new Built-in Procurement Model.
In a planet the place multi-area communications are crucial, knowledge integration is paramount. At the exact time, the place our package must be secure with key elements created in the British isles, and we should prioritise procuring enablers alongside the shiny new platform that simply cannot perform without the need of them.
What does this signify in apply?
There will be 5 critical attributes of our new approach.
1st, it will be joined up – with procurement anchored in pan-defence affordability, alternatively than advertisement hoc silos, susceptible to over-programming.
A critical illustration will be our pending Munitions Technique, a top precedence provided our require to replenish weapons stocks to warfighting degrees. Pan-defence prioritisation of munitions procurement will not only be pushed by the difficult truth of the biggest threats we face, but the scale of need sign required for ‘always on’ manufacturing – the exceptional outcome for equally armed forces and industry.
Next, we will have new checks and balances, to challenge assumptions at the outset of programmes.
Particularly, our new Integration Design Authority, based mostly within Strategic Command, will be empowered to ensure our new method is adopted in observe. If prerequisites lack a program for facts integration or accompanying enablers, the proposal will be despatched back.
But they will also be in a position to keep an eye on programmes for where by possibilities might crop up for example to far better harness AI or novel systems.
Meanwhile, in the MOD’s mostly civilian sphere, a defence vast portfolio strategy will carry collectively all the skills at our disposal to allow properly educated alternatives and conclusions on priorities.
The purpose will be to give a credible second viewpoint for Ministers to weigh along with the military’s proposed prerequisites. In distinct, this will include a far much better function for our excellent experts at Dstl, to focus on technological viability gurus will be tasked with industry analysis and prioritising suggestions on industrial selections, making sure we make the finest knowledgeable determination on whether or not to go off the shelf, sovereign manufacture, or somewhere in involving.
And to keep away from new oversight leading simply just to more red tape, this reform can take position hand in hand with Defence Style, aimed at streamlining our interior processes.
The 3rd vital feature is prioritising exportability, which will now be thought of in depth from the really outset of programmes, so that we maximise the prospective market place for a presented ability – and for that reason, push British industrial resilience.
That is why a single of the important pro voices will be our export specialists. At the second their major concentrate is on export strategies, mostly for mature products. But I want that expertise to be embedded in the MOD’s acquisition course of action from the beginning – giving us robust data to quantify the possibility that bespoke needs may possibly create a delta among our demands and intercontinental need. Over all, indicating that our international export strategies can start at a significantly before place in the products lifestyle cycle.
The fourth feature of our new solution is to empower industrial innovation.
We have currently started out our radical new enterprise of engaging marketplace at key, to give the strongest achievable comprehending of our upcoming needs. My aim is to embed this strategy in the course of procurement, driving the deepest achievable romantic relationship with business, that enables entrepreneurial innovation to prosper, and our offer chains to grow to be much more resilient. A much more holistic supplier administration technique will complement this by enabling the division to communicate with a clearer voice concerning priorities once on contract.
Fifthly and finally, we will pursue spiral advancement by default.
Looking for 60%-80% of the attainable, rather than striving for perfection.
For such spiral programmes we will abolish Initial Operating Functionality and Complete Working Capacity.
Alternatively of IOC or FOC…there will be MDC…the Minimum amount Deployable Functionality.
And even though there will have to be exceptions, we have set new default time targets for programmes: a few decades for digital 5 for platforms.
Due to the fact this is all about tempo – but to achieve speed, we have to have the appropriate people… capable Senior Responsible Entrepreneurs, running in an atmosphere of psychological safety.
As these kinds of, and supplied its emphasis on our persons and psychological protection – I’m delighted to report that we think we have now carried out all 24 recommendations of the Sheldon critique into Ajax.
At last, how will this systematic alter be implemented?
I mentioned to the HCDC that our program was to start our new product in the following monetary 12 months.
So from the second week of April, the Integration Structure Authority will be formally delivering its new oversight functionality in support of the Integrated Procurement Product.
For significant new programmes beginning just after that date, recently formed specialist assistance will be built available to Ministers – ensuring we thrash out all the hard troubles at the beginning of a important procurement, locking down the vital policy choices so that our SROs and professional features can produce at pace from thereon in.
Whilst for contractual causes existing programmes will continue on under their latest procurement manner, on 8th April we will publish our new Spiral Enhancement Playbook so that extant programmes which can adopt Spiral features will be empowered to do so.
On exportability, yesterday I revealed the up coming phase of our New Medium Helicopter opposition – this consists of a powerful weighting for exports to ensure the large high quality rotary work it will assistance in the British isles is sustainable more than the prolonged-time period.
These an tactic to weighting exportability, exactly where suitable, will develop into the default from April 8th.
From that date our a few and five year targets will use to new programmes – such as leading precedence pending procurements such as the Mobile Fires System.
Ukraine has shown how near overcome artillery continues to be important to warfighting. We will now speed up that crucial acquisition. Exemplifying our new technique whereby we will buy essential enablers in parallel to the system itself, significantly the ammunition.
But Ukraine has also revealed the worth of drones, and uncrewed units will form the to start with overall class of pipecleaner for the Integrated Procurement Model from close to conclude.
Alongside this statement I am today publishing a brief assistance be aware detailing the nuts and bolts of our new acquisition strategy. Copies of which will be positioned in the Library of the Property and believe will be out there in the vote office soon after I have sat down Mr Speaker.
The latest setting in which we come across ourselves – war in Europe – has created it difficult to dismiss the urgent need for improve.
All aim should now be on shipping: I commend this assertion to the Household.
Released 28 February 2024
(Source: