By Andrew Pring | 5 September 2014
The Ministry of Defence failed to consult Army chiefs before it embarked on an austerity programme to cut 20,000 jobs, the Public Accounts Committee has revealed today.
The MoD has also failed to recruit sufficient reservists to fill capability gaps that result from the reduction in manpower, MPs added, which could put additional pressure on regular units.
Examining the department’s cost-cutting plans in today’s Army 2020 report, the committee concluded that this ‘bungling’ had led to £70m of the planned £267m savings being lost.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said that the decision to reduce the size of the Army was driven by the need to make financial savings in a time of austerity.
‘However, it is remarkable that the Chief of the General Staff was not involved in all stages of the decision-making process given the magnitude and importance of the change required, and its impact on the service which he commands,’ she added.
‘It is astonishing that the Ministry of Defence went ahead with plans to cut back the regular Army by 20,000 and increase the number of reservists without testing whether this was doable and without properly consulting the Army itself.’
The lack of feasibility testing of the plans to recruit the 30,000 reserve soldiers it needs by 2019 meant that MPs ‘remain to be convinced’ that the required numbers can be recruited in time, Hodge added.
‘The Army told us that shortfalls in recruitment are increasing the risk of capability gaps emerging in some parts of the Army’s structure. This in turn increases the risk of additional pressure being placed on regular troops.’
MPs were also critical of Capita, the Army’s recruiting partner, finding it missed its regular soldier recruitment target by 30% in 2013/14 and recruited fewer than 2,000 reserves against a target of 6,000. Despite this, the firm was paid as though it had delivered the full 6,000.
‘The MoD’s bungling around the recruitment contract with Capita has meant at least £70m of the planned £267m savings from the contract have already been lost,’ Hodge said.
‘There was no clear understanding of the scale of the recruitment challenge, poor information about potential recruits and the MoD did not provide Capita with the IT infrastructure it needed.’
In a series of recommendations, the committee said the MoD should involve relevant stakeholders fully in the decision-making process in the future, and ensure adequate testing of the feasibility for proposed actions.
