Press Release - Ministry of Defence: The Rapid Procurement of
Capability to Support Operations
19 November 2004
The National Audit Office report on Urgent Operational
Requirements (UORs), whereby the Ministry of Defence (MoD) uses a
streamlined version of its procedures to support operations by
buying equipment quickly, finds that UORs are a necessary and
increasingly important feature of operations and that the
Department has shown impressive ingenuity to deliver urgent
requirements to support recent operations. However, more complete
information management would allow the MoD to consider further ways
to improve the management and speedy and cost-effective delivery of
UORs.
Recently, the Department has procured 312 Urgent Operational
Requirements to support the preparation and warfighting stages of
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a cost of £658 million.
Seventy per cent of the amount spent on the early stages of the
operation in Iraq was to bring forward planned equipment or to fill
previously unidentified capability gaps. Thirty per cent was spent
on UORs to fill previously identified capability gaps, where the
Department had decided not to fill them in advance. Given that the
Department does not have the money to buy all the equipment it may
need for all types of operations, it must therefore prioritise and
have to work on the basis that it will have to fill some capability
gaps by Urgent Operational Requirements. This 30 per cent is
equivalent to approximately two to three per cent of the some £6
billion spent each year by the Department on the procurement of
equipment. Enhancements to existing capabilities provided through
Urgent Operational Requirements ranged from fighting and defensive
equipment, such as light machine guns and enhanced armour
protection, through to supporting capabilities such as temporary
accommodation, communications and medical supplies.
The MoD had centrally held information for about half of these
UORs. National Audit Office analysis of this information shows that
two thirds of the UORs were delivered on time. Three quarters were
finally deployed and used, with 96 per cent of these assessed by
end users as effective or better. Examples of successful UORs
include ARTHUR, a radar which locates mortar and artillery firing
positions, and Storm Shadow, a missile whose deployment was
accelerated so it could be used in Iraq.
The NAO report recommends that, without hindering the current
process, the MoD should enhance its current systems to make
information on UORs more complete, accurate, coherent and
accessible to more effectively monitor what is, in total, a
significant amount of expenditure. This would allow the MoD to
consider further ways to improve the management and speedy and
cost-effective delivery of UORs.
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said
today:
"UORs are a necessary and increasingly important feature
of operations. The speed, commitment and ingenuity of MoD staff
involved in these urgent procurements is impressive. The majority
of UORs arrived in Iraq on time, but with better information and
better planning, the MoD should be able to improve on current
performance for future operations."
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is now at www.nao.org.uk.
Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 67/04
All enquiries to Mark Strathdene, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7183
Mobile: 07748 181693