Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
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| United Kingdom Ministry of Defence |
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 Ministry of Defense Combined Services badge |
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1964 (As modern department) |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Whitehall, Westminster, London[1] |
| Annual budget | £35 billion (2009/10) |
| Agency executives | The Rt Hon. Bob Ainsworth, MP, Secretary of State for Defence Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Chief of the Defence Staff |
| Website | |
| http://www.mod.uk | |
| United Kingdom |
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The MoD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability.[2] With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War the MoD does not foresee any short-term conventional military threat; rather, it has identified weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism, and failed and failing states as the overriding threats to the UK's interests.[3] The MoD also manages day to day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement.
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[edit] History
During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during World War I, concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three Services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom—the British Army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force. The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by Prime Minister David Lloyd George's coalition government in 1921; but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923, for the purposes of inter-Service co-ordination. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Coordination of Defence. Lord Chatfield held the post until the fall of Neville Chamberlain's government in 1940; his success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments and his limited political influence.
Winston Churchill, on forming his government in 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise ministerial control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946. The new ministry was headed by a Minister of Defence who possessed a seat in the Cabinet. The three existing service Ministers — the Secretary of State for War, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of State for Air — remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet.
From 1946 to 1964 five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation, and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. These departments merged in 1964; the defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971.[4]
[edit] Defence policy
The 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World White Paper outlined the following posture for the British Armed Forces:
- The ability to support three simultaneous small- to medium-scale operations, with at least one as an enduring peace-keeping mission (e.g. Kosovo). These forces must be capable of representing the UK as lead nation in any coalition operations.
- The ability, at longer notice, to deploy forces in a large-scale operation while running a concurrent small-scale operation.
[edit] Perceived Current Threats
Following the end of the cold war, the perceived threat of direct conventional military confrontation with other states has been replaced by "terrorism" - Sir Richard Dannatt predicted British forces to be involved in combating "predatory non-state actors" for the foreseeable future, in what he called an "era of persistent conflict".[5] He told the prestigious think tank Chatham House that the fight against al-Qaeda and other militant Islamist groups was "probably the fight of our generation".[5]
Sir Richard Dannatt criticised a remnant "Cold War mentality", with military expenditures based on retaining a capability against a direct conventional strategic threat;[5][6] He said currently only 10% of the MoD's equipment programme between 2003 and 2018 was to be invested in the "land environment" - at a time when Britain was engaged in land-based wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.[5]
[edit] Senior officials
[edit] Ministerial Team
- Secretary of State for Defence — The Rt Hon. Bob Ainsworth, MP
- Minister of State for the Armed Forces — Bill Rammell, MP
- Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform — Lord Drayson (jointly with DBIS, attends cabinet)
- Minister for International Defence and Security and Government Spokesman for Defence in the House of Lords — The Rt Hon. The Baroness Taylor of Bolton, PC (jointly with FCO)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support — Quentin Davies, MP
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans — Kevan Jones, MP
[edit] Permanent Secretaries and other senior officials
The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by a number of civilian, scientific and professional military advisors. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence (generally known as the Permanent Secretary) is the senior civil servant at the MoD. His role is to ensure the MoD operates effectively as a department of the government.
- Permanent Under-Secretary of State — Sir Bill Jeffrey KCB
- Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State — Ursula Brennan
- Chief of Defence Materiel — General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue
- Chief Scientific Adviser — Professor Mark Welland[7]
[edit] Chiefs of the Defence Staff
The current Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces, is Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup. He is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and by the professional heads of the three sections of the armed forces.
- Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff — General Sir Nicholas Houghton
- First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff — Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, Royal Navy
- Chief of the General Staff — General Sir Richard Dannatt, British Army
- Chief of the Air Staff — Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, Royal Air Force
There are also several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff with particular remits, such as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Equipment Capability), Deputy CDS (Personnel) and Deputy CDS (Commitments). The Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Health), Lt Gen Robert Baxter, represents the Defence Medical Services on the Defence Staff, even though the Surgeon General, Lt Gen Louis Lilliewhite, is the clinical head of that service.[8] Additionally, there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff, including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, who is customarily also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel and Reserves).
[edit] Departmental Agencies
The following executive agencies report directly to Ministers in the Ministry of Defence, as of 2007/08. [9]
- Defence Analytical Services Agency 1
- Defence Medical, Education and Training Agency 3
- Defence Storage and Distribution Agency 1
- Defence Vetting Agency 1
- Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, which includes the Ministry of Defence Police 3
- People, Pay and Pensions Agency 3
- Service Children's Education 3
- Service Personnel and Veterans Agency 3
- 1 reporting to the Minister of State for the Armed Forces.
- 2 reporting to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister of State for Defence Equipment & Support
- 3 reporting to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans
The MoD has been reducing the number of bodies with Agency status through reoganisation and mergers, taking them back into the core organisation.
[edit] Property portfolio
The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, with hundreds of sites across the country, including military training grounds, ranges, storage and distribution centres, barracks, military-family accommodation and administrative buildings, etc. These are largely managed by the Defence Estates agency. A 2005 National Audit Office report values the MoD's estate at £15,300,000,000 and puts the area covered at 2,400 square kilometres (927 square miles) (or just under 1% of UK's land area). This figure has been much reduced since the Second World War and continues to diminish through rationalisation of bases, etc. Of this, a third is classified as "built"; two thirds are "rural" (mostly training areas whose natural environments have been little altered). The National Audit Office also estimates annual expenditure on the defence estate at £1,300,000,000.
Henry VIII's wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall, built in 1514–1516, is in the basement of the Ministry of Defence headquarters (commonly known as "Main Building") in Whitehall, and is used for entertainment. The entire structure was moved a short distance in 1949.[citation needed] The Main Building is neoclassical in style and was built between 1938 and 1959. Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial, and nearby are memorials to Britain's Gurkha troops (to its north) and to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF (to its east, facing the riverside).
[edit] Fraud
The most notable fraud conviction was that of Gordon Foxley, head of defence procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984. Police claimed he received at least £3.5m[citation needed] in total in corrupt payments substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence the allocation of contracts.
[edit] Criticism
[edit] Chinook procurement
The MoD has been criticised for an ongoing fiasco, where it has spent hundreds of millions on Chinooks not fit for use, 13 years after they were ordered.[10] A National Audit Office report reveals that for seven years the helicopters have been stored in air conditioned hangars in Britain while troops in Afghanistan have been forced to rely on helicopters which are flying with safety faults.[11] By the time they are airworthy, the total cost of the project could be as much as £500m.[10]
| “ | ...the most incompetent procurement of all time...might as well have bought eight turkeys. | ” |
In April 2008, a £90m contract was signed with Boeing for a "quick fix" solution, so they can fly by 2010: QinetiQ will downgrade the Chinooks - stripping out some of their more advanced equipment.[12]
[edit] Notes
- ^ 51°30′14″N 0°7′30″W / 51.50389°N 0.125°W
- ^ Ministry of Defence website, accessed 23 April 2006.
- ^ Ministry of Defence website, accessed 8th December 2008.
- ^ Ministry of Defence | About Defence | History | History of the MOD | History of the Ministry of Defence
- ^ a b c d "MoD 'must adapt' to new threats". BBC. 2009-05-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8052790.stm. Retrieved on 2009-06-23.
- ^ Monbiot, George (2009-06-22). "Any real effort on climate change will hurt - Start with the easy bits: war toys Our brains struggle with big, painful change. The rational, least painful change is to stop wasting money building tanks". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/22/debt-crisis-environment-defence-spending. Retrieved on 2009-06-23.
- ^ Cambridge academic appointed Chief Scientific Adviser for Ministry of Defence
- ^ "Defence Medical Services Department". www.mod.uk. DMS. http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/microsite/dms. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
- ^ http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/164CD40C-0EFE-434E-8C24-27BAD016A72F/0/annrptvol2_200708.pdf MoD Annual Report and Accounts 2007-2008 Volume II
- ^ a b "Chinook blunders cost MoD £500m". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/04/military.defence?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ "National Audit Office Value for Money Report: Executive Summary - Ministry of Defence: Chinook Mk3 Helicopters". NAO. http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/07-08/0708512es.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ a b "MoD sorts out 'turkey' helicopters for Xmas". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/20/chinook_hc3_cockup_finally_resolved_turkeys_fly_at_last/. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Chester, D. N and Willson, F. M. G. The Organisation of British Central Government 1914–1964: Chapters VI and X (2nd edition). London: George Allen & Unwin, 1968.
[edit] External links
[edit] Video clips
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