| 27 December 2012
The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond recently welcomed Lord Levene’s first annual review of progress against the recommendations of the Defence Reform Review.
In a letter to the Secretary of State, Lord Levene congratulated the Ministry of Defence on strong progress made against the 53 recommendations since the publication of the Defence Reform Report and said that he believes the programme is being run with genuine urgency.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: “I welcome Lord Levene’s recognition of the strong progress made to date in implementing his recommendations and his confidence that we can deliver transition to a new operating model for the Ministry of Defence in April 2013.
“Some of the key changes of Defence Reform are already complete, such as strengthened top-level decision-making and the focus on strategic direction from a newly-constituted Defence Board, which I chair. The Joint Forces Command has been established and its first Commander appointed. Many other recommendations are on track for delivery by April 2013, including the delegation of financial and military capability management to give the Service Chiefs greater accountability and freedom to manage their resources and plan for future capability.
“A few recommendations will take longer to complete; I acknowledge that there is more to do in some areas, such as development of the Whole Force Concept and the delivery of improved Management Information, and I value Lord Levene’s continued interest and focus on these important changes. I am confident though that by April 13 we will have gone a long way towards achieving the aim of the Defence Reform programme; a smaller more professional MOD that is better at supporting the Armed Forces now, and looking forward to Future Force 2020.”