Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today that although he had qualified his audit opinion on whether the Ministry of Defence’s Resource Accounts for 2001-02 presented a true and fair view, the Department had made significant improvements since 2000-01. And he reported that the Department continues to make good […]
Equipment cannibalisation in the Royal Navy has doubled in the past 12 years. It can be effective to meet operational needs but can increase costs and create disruption.
We investigated the performance of the MoD’s military flying training system
Sir John Bourn, the Head of the NAO, told Parliament today that Combat Identification enables the Armed Forces to improve combat effectiveness and minimise the risk of fratricide, which is the accidental destruction of friendly or allied forces (“friendly fire”). Historical research in the United States has shown that fratricide accounts for between ten and […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) is working hard to improve the management of helicopter logistics, but it has not yet been able to deliver fully the agreed levels of logistics support. Overall performance has been patchy. For the Joint Helicopter Command, in […]
The Ministry of Defence has done much to improve the management of the major repair and overhaul of land equipment but there is more to do, including addressing the future role and shape of its in-house provider, the Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO), Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today. […]
The Ministry of Defence has made significant progress in reducing stocks but there is considerable scope for further reductions. Reducing stock should lead to financial savings, Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today. If the MOD disposed of 10 per cent of its slow moving stock, it could save […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reporting today on the implementation of Integrated Project Teams1 (IPTs) by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Parliament that the teams had been introduced rapidly and successfully but needed to evolve further. He also reported that firm direction was now needed from the MoD to maintain […]
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, recognised in his Report to Parliament today the further progress which has been made by the Ministry of Defence in implementing Resource Accounts. The MoD has put in hard work and made great strides during the last year. However, Sir John has qualified his opinion on […]
The Ministry of Defence’s £2.4 billion programme to transform battlefield communications, command and control through the joint introduction of Bowman digital radios and the advanced Combat Infrastructure Platform (CIP) to an exacting 30 month timescale, has been recast. A revised programme and a further £121 million of funding have been approved to deliver the capabilities […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reporting today on the top 20 defence equipment projects in demonstration and manufacture, told Parliament that the Ministry of Defence is meeting the technical requirements of the majority of its customers, whilst continuing to improve cost control and beginning to bring delays under control. On the […]
The Ministry of Defence is at the forefront of best practice in some areas of contract negotiation but needs to achieve these high levels more consistently, the National Audit Office reported today. The report to Parliament by head of the NAO, Sir John Bourn, looks at the importance of good contract management and builds on […]
Sir John Bourn, the Head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that Exercise “Saif Sareea” II, held in Oman in 2001, successfully demonstrated that the United Kingdom is capable of mounting a balanced, coherent force over a long distance. Among the United Kingdom’s allies, only the United States has shown that it could […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, today told Parliament that defence equipment acquisition was an inherently complex and often expensive task. Co-operation adds another layer of complexity. It also offers potential economic, military, industrial and political benefits but in the past not all of these have been secured. Recent initiatives from the […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reporting today on the top 20 defence equipment projects in demonstration and manufacture told Parliament that the Ministry of Defence is expecting to meet the technical requirements of customers but not always within cost and time. There is evidence that the Ministry of Defence has begun […]
Sir John Bourn, the head of the National Audit Office, has qualified his opinion on the 1999-2000 accounts of the Ordnance Survey, the government Agency responsible for the official mapping of Great Britain. In his report to Parliament on the Agency’s first set of accounts as a Trading Fund, Sir John said that he had […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that in recent years the Ministry of Defence have produced fewer trained pilots than the Armed Services require, and some 45 a year (18 per cent) fewer than needed have entered operational service. This situation has contributed to a shortfall in operational pilots […]
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told Parliament today that the top 25 Ministry of Defence equipment projects were, at 31 March 1999, forecast to cost £2.7 billion more than originally estimated. Including beneficial revised costings for the Eurofighter programme, cost overruns have reduced from the £2.9 billion reported in 1998. The […]
This report examines the Ministry of Defence’s management of its large and complex infrastructure projects at nuclear-regulated sites.