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Andy Burnham’s Government needs to move “further and faster” to prepare the UK for the possibility of war within 1,000 days, a group of peers has warned.
Industry will be unable to “move quickly enough” to safeguard Britain unless the Government alters its “buyer-seller” relationship with commercial firms and urges regulators to strip away “overly prescriptive” rules, the Lords Industry and Regulators Committee cautioned.
In a report published on Wednesday, the committee stated that investors must also be given “more certainty” regarding the timeline and nature of contracts to enable funds to flow.
Peers called for a “significant shift in the culture” at the Ministry of Defence, arguing the department has “too often focused on the comfort blanket of following process rather than delivering capability at speed.”
Setting out a series of recommendations, the committee stated the ministry should become “more comfortable” with accepting risk when procuring capabilities and consider a broader range of factors when determining value for money, rather than focusing solely on low costs.
It comes after the Defence Secretary warned that Britain must be ready for war in 1,000 days as Russia ramps up its hybrid warfare against Nato.
Writing in The Telegraph last month, Mr Streeting warned Britain’s adversaries could be ready to attack the UK in 2030.
“When procuring innovative capabilities, the Government should consider funding a number of companies working on the same problem to ensure greater industrial resilience and capacity,” the report said.
“Much of the bureaucracy and process in defence procurement was intended to reduce the risk of wasting public money. This has slowed down procurement without obviously reducing waste.
“The Ministry of Defence must become more comfortable with greater flexibility and risk in its procurement of new capabilities, accepting that the finished product might not be as initially envisaged, that failure can be instructive, and that speed can be more important than cost management.”
Peers also called on the Prime Minister to reinforce promises from Defence Secretary Wes Streeting to provide cover for officials to take greater risks, with a “strategic statement on defence to ensure industry is able to provide UK defence readiness”.
“If the Government continues its arm’s-length, buyer-seller relationship with industry delivering against detailed and prescriptive technical specifications, industry will not be able to move quickly enough to exploit fast-developing technology or to protect the UK in the event of war,” the report said.
“The Ministry of Defence must improve its ability to work with the defence industry on a quicker, more informal basis to improve outcomes. It should consult earlier in process, before requirements become fixed.”
The committee welcomed the Government’s adoption of the 2025 strategic defence review’s recommendation of a new partnership with industry and said its recommendations focus on “where the Government must go further and faster”.
Chancellor John Healey committed the Government to spending 3% of economic output on defence by 2030 in his November budget and said next year’s spending review would plot a course to reach the target.
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 (small and medium-sized enterprises), 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 December 1 Defence Investment Summit to provide certainty to business to drive the new partnership forward.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “This Government is delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, investing almost £300 billion to transform our Armed Forces to warfighting readiness to keep Britain safe.
“We are driving reforms to deliver capability faster, secure better value for money, and strengthen the UK defence industrial base.
“This includes increasing spending with SMEs by £2.5 billion and our Office for Small Business Growth is reducing barriers to entry, helping more SMEs win defence contracts and backing British firms.”