Consultation outcome

Consultation document

Updated 18 December 2018

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Why are we conducting the MDP?

The National Security Capability Review concluded that we have entered a period of sharply increased complexity and risk. The strategic challenges that we identified in the 2015 National Security Strategy have intensified and combined at a greater pace than was foreseen.

The rules-based international order is under significant pressure from emerging multipolarity. Increasingly sophisticated capabilities are being used in new domains of warfare, both by state actors engaging in a more intense degree of competition and confrontation, and by non-state actors that have diffused and disaggregated.

As a global actor with a global outlook, we have a responsibility to respond decisively to this challenging strategic context.

How does the MDP affect existing Defence policy?

The fundamentals of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review remain sound.

NATO remains the cornerstone of UK security. We are committed to our status as a UN P5 member, and to our position as one of the few nations able to respond to crises anywhere in the world at very short notice with highly capable forces. The central elements of the plan we set out in 2015 for Joint Force 2025 remain right.

What are the MOD’s goals for the MDP?

We need to strengthen our world-leading Armed Forces against the harder threats that we and our allies now face. At the same time, we need to put UK Defence on an enduringly affordable footing, so that our contribution to national security and prosperity is sustainable over the long term.

The Defence Secretary has set out a framework for a modernised Armed Forces, supported by a modernised strategic base, constructed around 3 pillars:

• our role in NATO and at home
• our role as a capable and reliable contributor to missions led by our close Allies and partners, particularly the US
• our ability and willingness to act independently or lead multi-national missions

Alongside this analysis, our Armed Forces must be able to:

• operate in the full range of combat environments and across all domains (land, sea, air, space and cyber), and to respond rapidly and globally

• play a central role in an integrated, cross-Government security apparatus, contributing to domestic security and resilience alongside civil authorities, and providing escalatory and deescalatory options, crisis response, and support to global defence engagement priorities

• provide leadership as a framework nation in NATO, European formations, and coalitions, or operating independently alongside the US

In support of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence must achieve strategic affordability as an organisation by better harnessing our whole force of regulars and reservists, civil servants and contractors; exploiting modern business practices and smarter processes; reducing duplication; and establishing a more strategic relationship with a broader and more diversified supplier base.

In pursuit of these goals, the Modernising Defence Programme will consist of four workstreams:

Workstream 1

MOD Operating Model: establishing a refreshed and clearer Operating Model for Defence, to enable better and faster decision-making and more efficient and effective delivery of Defence outputs.

Workstream 2

Efficiency and business modernisation: providing confidence in the MOD’s ability to realise existing efficiency targets, and a set of options for future efficiency and business modernisation investments.

Workstream 3

Commercial and industrial approach: assessing how MOD can improve on commercial capability and strategic supplier management.

Workstream 4

Defence policy, outputs and military capability: analysing the global security context and its implications for Defence policy, the roles and tasks that we prioritise, and the opportunities or imperatives for modernising our workforce, military capabilities and force generation processes.

Responding to the consultation

We invite the views of all of our stakeholders on the goals for the MDP outlined above. The consultation will be open until the end of April, and a Government response will follow in the summer. Please provide your response by email to DSP-consultation@mod.gov.uk or by post to the following address:

Defence Strategy and Priorities
3.C
MOD Main Building
London SW1A 2HB

When will you hear more?

The MDP is still in its early stages. The MOD aims to be in a position to share headline conclusions by the summer. Between now and then, we will provide regular updates as progress is made.