LONDON \u2014 The man who wrote a blistering attack\u00a0on shortcomings in the British defense procurement system for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and then became the boss of the organization he criticized has been asked to repeat the review exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Defence Equipment & Support’s (DE&S) chief executive, Sir Bernard Gray, has been recruited by the MoD to evaluate whether a major reform effort pursued by the Conservative government since it came to office in 2010 has been effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An MoD contract award document said that a company known as Pole Star Strategy had secured a \u00a360,000 (US $85,220) noncompetitive deal to evaluate the progress of reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sir Bernard Gray has been asked to undertake a technical review into the state of the procurement landscape. The review will look at the recommendations made in Sir Bernard’s 2009 Review of Defence Acquisition and Lord Levene’s 2011 report on Defence Reform. The report will examine the degree and success of the implementation of the recommendations of these reports in order to inform future strategy and direction,” an MoD spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pole Star Strategy was set up by Gray following his departure from the MoD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MoD document said Pole Star’s remit also includes providing new recommendations to improve the ongoing reform effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The spokesman said the review, commissioned by Jon Thompson, the now former-permanent secretary, was likely to be complete within a few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The need for further reforms could be driven, in part, by the MoD’s need to find efficiencies\u00a0of the order of \u00a39.2 billion between 2015 and 2020 to help fund its equipment program. Money saved by the MoD can now be recycled back to the department rather than handed over to the Treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recruitment of Gray to do the review generated mixed reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MoD defended it’s decision to ask Gray to perform\u00a0the review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sir Bernard’s experience and expertise \u2014 having written his Review of Defence Acquisition in 2009 and led DE&S for five years \u2014 mean he is uniquely placed to undertake this work quickly and provide best value for money. He is no longer an employee of the department, has no management responsibility and no vested interest in the outcome of the review,” an MoD spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One political consultant disagreed, saying that getting the ex-DE&S boss to judge his success was a “little like giving a schoolboy his own homework to mark.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex Ashbourne Walmsley, of Ashbourne Strategic Consulting, said the decision to get Gray to do the review was a little curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think it might have been wiser if the MoD had appointed someone truly independent to assess the success of the Gray and Levene reviews,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Howard Wheeldon, of Wheeldon Strategic,\u00a0said Gray was a good choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Having been one part of the twin strategy with Lord Levene to look at defense procurement and at the internal structure of MoD workings, I would think Bernard Gray is an ideal person to mark the reform progress so far,” he said.\u00a0“There is a point though that questions whether he should be asked to judge his own performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There is clearly more work to be done, and I doubt that we are more than 50 percent through the process of reform and change requirement.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with the Levene reforms, which included giving budget responsibility to the individual armed services, creation of a Joint Forces Command and a stronger Defence Board chaired by the defence secretary, the changes at DE&S have been termed the biggest organizational change program in Europe by the Institute for Government think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gray departed DE&S last December after he failed to secure an extension of his contract following a near five-year stint at the helm of the MoD’s \u00a314 billion-a-year procurement and support arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British businessman Tony Douglas has taken over from Gray as chief executive at DE&S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Bernard Gray did not leave his position at DE&S under a cloud, although it is true that his methods to achieve change did not meet with universal approval. But defense in terms of cost of delivery has undoubtedly benefited from his efforts,”\u00a0Wheeldon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Onetime reporter and Labour government defense special adviser, Gray shot to prominence in the sector in 2009 when he wrote a withering appraisal of the poor performance of MoD procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Two years later he was invited by the then-new Conservative-led coalition government to implement the reforms he had recommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The center piece of Gray’s reform plan, the establishment of DE&S as a government-owned contractor-operated (GoCo)\u00a0 concern, collapsed at the final hurdle when one of the two final bidders withdrew at the last minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its place the government turned DE&S into a bespoke trading entity and brought in Bechtel, CH2M Hill and PwC as managed service providers to build skills and processes in the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then-Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the changes were meant to get the procurement organization “match fit” by 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another attempt at turning DE&S into a GoCo sometime in the future has not been ruled out by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jon Thompson, who until a few days ago was the permanent secretary at the MoD, said in an April 7 interview with the Global Government Forum publication that reform at DE&S was progressing but he wondered how much further the trading entity model could be advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’d say the job was two-thirds done. … The question is how far you can push this model \u2014 but we will continue to push it,” Thompson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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