Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told Parliament yesterday that a year-long assessment phase has begun that is expected to lead to reform of the Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) equipment and support management.
The assessment will develop and analyze data that is expected to allow MoD to decide between two options: a private-sector led, government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) model, and a restructured, fully-funded version of DE&S that stays in the public sector and would be known as DE&S+.
Defense acquisition reform is part of the Transforming Defense program to make lasting management improvement for MoD’s 10-year, about $247 billion DE&S program.
Over the next year, MoD will work with the Treasury and Cabinet Office on the DE&S+ option to find out how much could be changed while keeping the organization in the public sector.
In parallel, a commercial process was launched to start discussions with potential industry partners about how a GOCO organization would work.
In a written statement to Parliament that began by an appreciation of the DE&S staff, Hammond said: “This program is about giving them access to the necessary skills, processes and resources to enable them to do their jobs better, ensuring that the Armed Forces are provided with battle-winning equipment on time and to budget.”
At the end of the 12-month assessment, he said, “We will have a comprehensive set of qualitative and quantitative data for both possible operating models which will enable us critically to evaluate the 2 options and make a final decision about the future of DE&S.”
Next summer the final decision on the DE&S future operating model is expected.