U.K., Nov. 11 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:

In the light of the Secretary of State for Defence's warning that the UK needs to be ready to fight or deter military action within 1,000 days, and the Chancellor's promise to reach 3% GDP expenditure by 2030, the Industry and Regulators Committee has urged the Government to move faster to implement the Strategic Defence Review's (SDR) recommendation of a new relationship between government and the defence industry.

Report: Ready for action in 1,000 days? Forging a new partnership between Government and the defence industry (HTML)

Report: Ready for action in 1,000 days? Forging a new partnership between Government and the defence industry (PDF)

Inquiry: The relationship between the Government and the defence industry

Industry and Regulators Committee

The report

In its report, 'Ready for action in 1,000 days? Forging a new partnership between Government and the defence industry', the Committee calls for a culture change within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which delivers faster procurement, a less risk averse approach to new technologies, an easier route for SMEs looking to supply defence needs and the training of the necessary skilled workers.

The report welcomes the Government's adoption of the Strategic Defence Review's recommendation to make this new partnership a reality and its implementation so far of some major structural changes to meet the challenge. However, it warns that to give investors the certainty and confidence they require, political leadership, driven by the Prime Minister, is needed to demonstrate that the MoD can respond to change and that all parts of the Government, including HM Treasury, accept this new approach.

Key findings

The Committee is also calling on the Government to:

accelerate the speed of defence procurement and report annually to Parliament on its performance against the targets set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy by June 2027;

drive a culture change allowing for greater risk in procurement to supply new technologies to the front line;

set clear expectations for prime contractors about their spending with SMEs, and how they should treat and support SMEs in their supply chains; provide an indicative multi-year pipeline of defence allowing greater predictability for businesses and their investors;

provide clarity on how the Government, local and devolved authorities and industry should develop the thousands of skilled workers the defence industry needs;

weight defence procurement towards UK companies, including requiring substantial UK manufacturing and the use of UK based SMEs and supply chains; and

contract sufficient industrial capacity to produce and adapt unmanned systems, such as drones in the event of conflict.

Chair's comments

Baroness Hayter , Chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee said:

"Last year the Strategic Defence Review called for a new relationship between government and the defence industry to reflect the urgency of rebuilding the UK's defence strength to meet the challenges and changing nature of warfare demonstrated so clearly by the war in Ukraine.

Whilst we welcome recognition of the need for change within the Ministry of Defence, it must accelerate, embrace new technologies and enhance the role of SMEs, whilst ensuring the skilled workforce needed to deliver this change.

With ongoing threats from Russia and other malign actors, the Government must show the necessary leadership and move at pace to achieve the Defence Secretary's target of being ready for action within 1,000 days and use the 1 December Defence Investment Summit to provide certainty to business to drive the new partnership forward."

Further information

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Image: UK MOD (c) Crown copyright

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.