{"id":51748,"date":"2014-12-17T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ee58feaaf556ef28f8bb9b71c0c35277"},"modified":"2014-12-17T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T13:00:00","slug":"news-story-lord-levene-hails-sea-change-in-defence-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=51748","title":{"rendered":"News story: Lord Levene hails \u2018sea change\u2019 in defence reform"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Lord Levene has delivered his annual progress report and declared: \u201ca leopard really can change its spots\u201d. <\/p>\n

His original report in 2011<\/a> considered how to improve the management of the MOD<\/abbr>, making 53 recommendations, and committed to reviewing progress annually.<\/p>\n

The latest review praised stronger financial management across MOD<\/abbr> \u2013 a vital step in ensuring that the department never again has an unaffordable, overheated programme \u2013 and finds that MOD<\/abbr> is now much better placed to address the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n

Lord Levene said: <\/p>\n

\n

This year I perceive a sea change in attitudes from every side. One of the principal recommendations was to delegate expenditure down the chain of command to the user.<\/p>\n

This was a brave decision by ministers and the Treasury but I think that their faith and confidence is beginning to pay off.<\/p>\n

To me the MOD<\/abbr> is now a very different animal from that which I left some 20 years ago, especially in terms of showing that they can be trusted to manage the money. A leopard really can change its spots.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:<\/p>\n

\n

Defence has undergone significant transformation over the past 4 years, and I am pleased that Lord Levene has recognised the progress made, not least the much stronger financial management he observed.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is always more we can do. That is why I welcome Lord Levene\u2019s suggestions for further improvement and am pleased to report that much of this work has already begun.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The review also finds that: <\/p>\n

    \n
  • the \u201cright attitudes and behaviours are increasingly in place\u201d in the Head Office<\/li>\n
  • the MOD<\/abbr>\u2019s management board has already come to be considered among the best in Whitehall, embedding a wholesale attitude and behaviour change, as front line commands embrace newly delegated powers<\/li>\n
  • financial management is much stronger in MOD<\/abbr> than 3 years ago<\/li>\n
  • top level budgets are \u2013 on the whole \u2013 seen to \u201cown\u201d their plans, take more responsibility for delivery and are much more active in determining their own priorities<\/li>\n
  • a \u201clean and agile\u201d Joint Forces Command is bringing improved focus to technological enablers<\/li>\n
  • a positive assessment of progress in Defence Equipment and Support where reforms \u201caugur well for the future\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    As the government moves towards the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015, the Secretary of State is committed to cementing and building on the progress made so far, with a strategic focus that ensures that defence stands up to challenges from a position of strength.<\/p>\n

    Lord Levene will undertake a further review next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    An independent reviewer has praised the \u201cfundamental transformation\u201d that the Ministry of Defence has undergone in the last 4 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}