The UK Government must go "further and faster" to prepare the country for the possibility of war in 1,000 days, according to a group of peers. The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee warned that industry will be unable to "move quickly enough" to protect Britain unless the Government changes its "buyer-seller" relationship with companies and encourages regulators to strip away "overly prescriptive" rules.
Report calls for procurement overhaul
In a report published on Wednesday, the committee said investors also needed to be given "more certainty" on the timeline and nature of contracts for funds to flow. It called for a "significant shift in the culture" at the Ministry of Defence, which peers said has "too often focused on the comfort blanket of following process rather than delivering capability at speed."
In a series of recommendations, the peers argued that the ministry should become "more comfortable" with accepting risk in its procurement of capabilities and consider a wide range of factors in determining value for money, not just low costs. "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.
Bureaucracy slows defence readiness
"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," the report added.
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."
Government response and next steps
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."
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. 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," she added.
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," the spokesperson added.
