Ministry of Defence annual report and accounts 2005-06: second report of session 2006-07 report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

House of Commons papers 57 2006-07

Format:

Corporate Author:

Great Britain Parliament House of Commons Defence Committee

Author:

James Arbuthnot (chairman)

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) assesses that it is on course to achieve its Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets which run until March 2008. The Annual Report describes military operations undertaken in 2005-06, but the MoD has refused the Committee the information on which it bases its assessment that these operations are on course for success. The Committee is concerned about several other areas. The reliability of air transport and the shortage of serviceable battlefield helicopters should be addressed. Whilst the manning requirement for the Armed Forces has been met, this is because the manning targets have fallen, despite the increased level of operational activity. The Armed Forces continue to experience difficulties in the recruitment and retention of personnel although the outflow figures provide no evidence of an exodus. The MoD has introduced financial incentives to improve retention in certain trades, but significant shortages of personnel remain in some areas. The Armed Forces are operating in challenging conditions and without all the equipment they need. With problems of undermanning continuing, there is a clear danger that the Armed Forces will not be capable of maintaining current commitments over the medium-term. The MoD's performance against its diversity targets is poor: the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have failed to recruit sufficient people from ethnic minorities. Progress has been made in the number of women joining the Services but there are alarming levels of recorded sexual harassment. The MoD met its procurement targets, and performance against its value for money targets is good. New and potential losses reported in the MoD's Resource Accounts totalled some £143 million in 2005-06, a lower figure than the previous year.

Extent	41, Ev 37p.	ISBN	9780215031648
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