House of Commons - Defence

Select Committee on Defence Eighth Report

2 The role of Dstl

4. Dstl's role is "to provide independent, high quality scientific and technological services to MoD, the UK Armed Forces and Government, in those areas inappropriate for the private sector".[9] MoD's memorandum states that Dstl does not directly compete with industry in any of its activities unless specifically requested to do so by the MoD. Also, Dstl only undertakes commercial work when specifically requested to do so by the MoD. [10]

5. Dstl's work for the MoD can be broadly separated into four areas:

support functions, consisting mainly of the development of military capability for the MoD's Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA), but also including work commissioned from the Defence Estates Agency and the Defence Intelligence Staff;
work in support of military operations for the three Services and Command Headquarters;
supporting the acquisition and maintenance of military equipment for the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Equipment Capability), the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), and the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO); and
carrying out a range of tasks relating to policy for the MoD's Policy Director.[11]

A breakdown of Dstl's major areas of work is set out in Table 1.

Table 1: Breakdown of Dstl's major areas of work

Area of work Value
£ million
% of total value

Acquisition 82 24.1

Equipment Capability 167 49.1

Policy 15 4.4

Intelligence 18 5.3

Operations 18 5.3

Commercial 19 5.6

Government Departments other than the MoD 21 6.2

Total 340 100

Source: MoD[12]

6. Dstl employs some 3,400 people.[13] We asked how Dstl's staff were apportioned to the broad areas of work that Dstl undertook. Dr Saunders, Dstl's Acting Chief Executive, told us that

if you think about the three sorts of work we tend to do, some is associated with supporting systems work—the higher level concept of development, support to policy development and support to the early stages of procurement—and probably about a third of our people are involved in that kind of work. The second third are looking more at the technology, so actually developing technology solutions that will be deployed in future equipments, particularly supporting things like urgent operations requirements (UORs)…. The final third is doing rather longer-term research of a strategic nature which uses the deeper end of Dstl's research base into areas such as biomedical counter measures, detection of chemical agents in the field, biological agents and explosives.[14]

7. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was split up in July 2001 into Dstl, an Executive Agency of the MoD, and QinetiQ, then a Government-owned company. A quarter of DERA's staff were transferred to Dstl, the remaining three-quarters to QinetiQ.[15] In our report on the MoD Annual Report and Accounts 2004-05, we reported on the flotation at the start of 2006 of QinetiQ.[16] Our predecessors undertook inquiries into DERA[17] and Dstl.[18]

8. We sought clarification on how Dstl's role differed from the roles of QinetiQ and the universities. Dr Saunders said that Dstl was retained in government to do

those things that are best done in government…. particularly, of a sensitive nature or where we need to work very closely with industry and need to deal with proprietary information in areas such as support to operations or counter-terrorism…. where it would not be appropriate for some of that work to be done in the private sector.[19]

Dr Saunders said that Dstl tended to do more applied research than academic research. Dstl worked closely with universities so that they had a better understanding of what the MoD's requirements from science and technology might be in the future. She added that "then we can work with them to pull through their ideas into our more applied research".[20]

9. We examined Dstl's work in three key roles: counter-terrorism; support for operations; and equipment acquisition.

Counter-terrorism

10. The MoD's memorandum states that Dstl "has made a major contribution, both in terms of technology and expertise, to the fight against international terrorism both in the UK and abroad".[21] The MoD has decided to bring together its counter-terrorist activities into a dedicated facility: the Counter-Terrorism Science and Technology Centre, at Porton Down in Wiltshire, operated by Dstl on behalf of the MoD.[22]

11. Dstl also operates the Forensic Explosive Laboratory (FEL) at Fort Halstead, Kent, which is funded by the Home Office. Each year, Dstl provides forensic and scientific support and advice to more than 300 police investigations involving the criminal misuse of explosives. For example, it provided support to the Metropolitan Police in July 2005 when London's transport infrastructure was attacked.[23]

12. More recently, Dstl has been involved in the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.[24] Dr Saunders told us that Dstl had been asked by the Health Protection Agency to support them by providing its radiological detection team, whose primary role was to respond to accidents at military establishments.[25] The CSA also referred to Dstl's role in the Litvinenko investigation and in detecting polonium-210 as illustrative of its importance to the UK, not just in defence but in many security areas. He told us that Dstl provided deep technical expertise and that this was "something we need to nurture and sustain and look after".[26]

Support for military operations

13. Dstl is called upon to provide scientific support to military operations. The MoD's memorandum states that Operation TELIC (UK military operations in Iraq) saw the largest number of scientists being deployed to support operations since the Second World War and more than 100 Dstl staff have received medals "in recognition of their contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom".[27] Dstl's involvement in Operation TELIC has covered: support to campaign planning; the delivery of equipment as part of the Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) process; and on-going post-conflict support. The attack in New York of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent operation in Afghanistan saw Dstl staff permanently deployed to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in London and to Afghanistan.[28]

14. A vital area in which Dstl has provided support is in responding to the threat from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The MoD's memorandum states that Dstl has developed "expedient armour" which, when fitted to armoured vehicles, has provided enhanced protection against the specific threats being faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.[29] We asked Dr Saunders why the work Dstl undertook in relation to IEDs could not be undertaken by commercial organisations. Dr Saunders told us that in this area of work, there were sensitive security and intelligence issues which the MoD would not want to communicate widely to industry.[30] Dr Saunders added that Dstl "actually do some of the design work…. So we are actually coming up with the solutions ourselves".[31]

Equipment acquisition

15. Dstl also provides advice to support major equipment acquisition programmes. MoD's memorandum states that

Dstl contributes at all stages of MoD's Smart Acquisition cycle: from analysing the shortfalls in military capability, identifying and developing the concepts needed to make these good, through to supporting the selection of equipment suppliers, and beyond, once equipment has entered service.[32]

Dstl has contributed to most acquisition programmes for all three Services and in all areas of military capability. The Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) and the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA), for which the UK has selected the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to fill the JCA requirement, are two examples of programmes where Dstl has been providing support.[33] We have undertaken inquiries into both these programmes.[34] On the JSF programme Dstl provided independent advice to the MoD's Investment Approvals Board on the risks in the programme, and have continued to assist the JCA Integrated Project Team (IPT) within the DPA in monitoring and reducing risk.[35]

16. Mr Peter Starkey, Dstl's Future Business Director, told us that in addition to the support provided to individual equipment programmes such as JSF and the Future Carrier, Dstl was involved in broader programmes such as Network Enabled Capability (NEC) and the future defence supply chain initiative. For the latter, industry would provide the new system, but Dstl had looked at what the current system provided, modelled the way that logistics flowed through the system, and concluded that there were improvements that could be made.[36]

Future role

17. In November 2006, the MoD published a revised Framework Document for Dstl. In the foreword to the Framework Document, Lord Drayson, Minister for Defence Procurement, stated that

this Framework Document builds upon its predecessor and now sets out in one place what is required of Dstl as a Next Steps Agency…. In short, the Framework Document explains the Ministry of Defence's expectations of the organisation, including its top level objectives, and the mechanics and governance arrangements in place to ensure their effective delivery.[37]

18. We asked what were the major changes in the Framework Document and what impact the changes would have. Dr Saunders pointed to two areas. First, it provided a "rather clearer statement of the top-level objectives for Dstl". She was pleased to see that there was an objective about maintaining and sustaining capability to support the MoD in the future. Second, it made a change in the governance arrangements. A "new non-executive dominated board" had been put in place to oversee Dstl and "discharge the ownership function on behalf of MoD as owner". The Framework Document sets out at the role of the board and the corporate governance arrangements.[38]

19. The MoD's memorandum states that, in order to sustain its role in the longer term, Dstl needs to:

maintain a high-level overview of science, technology and engineering relevant to defence and security;
be world-leading practitioners in overarching technical areas such as systems and capability engineering advice as well as in the development and application of underpinning science and technology to address sensitive defence capability challenges; and
actively engage with industry, government laboratories and academia in the UK and overseas.[39]

20. We note that the new Framework Document provides a clearer statement of the top-level objectives for Dstl and makes it a key objective to maintain and sustain its capability to support the MoD in the future. We see such an objective as vital and look to the MoD to provide the necessary resources to achieve it.

Collaboration

21. The MoD's memorandum states that Dstl has an extensive network of worldwide contacts in the military, academia and industry which it uses to ensure that the MoD is aware of, and has access to, the very latest developments in science and technology.[40] Examples of collaboration are:

a network of links with other Government Laboratories. The Inter Lab Forum is a partnership of the six UK Public Sector Research Laboratories. The Forum is seen as a way of ensuring that Government scientists can work together better across a range of work, but particularly in responding to emergencies;
Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs) in UK universities, which facilitate the exchange of staff and pooling of resources between Dstl and its academic partners;
Dstl has played a leading role in establishing an international network to assist with the scientific investigation of terrorism; and
the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) which Dstl hosts annually. CWID is designed to demonstrate emerging technologies for Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) and Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems and improve interoperability between coalition nations.[41]

22. Dstl's Annual Report and Accounts 2005-06 provides further examples of international research collaboration involving Dstl. It participates in some 20 fora spanning the main European nations, the US, Australia and Canada. Dstl has played a role in forging a new UK/US initiative, the International Technology Alliance, which will facilitate joint technology development across UK and US governments, industrial and academic laboratories. Dstl is also involved in laboratory-to-laboratory partnerships with other countries such as France.[42] Dr Saunders told us that, based on the amount of activity, the most important international partners were the US and the other nations in The Technical Co-operation Programme (TTCP) activity (Canada, Australia and New Zealand).[43]

23. We asked what was the objective of international collaboration. Dr Saunders told us that the policy and objectives for international research collaboration was set by the MoD. Dstl's role was

to help the MoD get gearing from the international research collaboration so they can get access to more knowledge through information exchange, and so on, than they would be able to get if all they did was fund the work in the UK.[44]

International collaboration also ensured that there was an element of Government-to-Government peer review, which allowed Dstl to test out its ideas against other scientists in government laboratories who perhaps had a different perspective.[45]

24. Dstl has been proactive in networking with other organisations involved in defence research in the UK and overseas. International collaboration in defence research offers substantial benefits to the UK. For Dstl to be able to continue to collaborate with the US and other nations, it is vital that the UK provides sufficient research funding for Dstl to retain its current position and continue to be regarded as a worthwhile collaborative partner.

9 Dstl Framework Document, November 2006, p 6 Back

10 Ev 23 Back

11 Ibid. Back

12 Ev 24 Back

13 Q 6 Back

14 Q 7 Back

15 National Audit Office, The Management of Defence Research and Technology, HC 360, Session 2003-04, pp 37-38 Back

16 Defence Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2005-06, Ministry of Defence, Annual Report and Accounts 2004-05, HC 822, paras 96-101 Back

17 Defence Committee, Ninth Report of Session 1999-2000, The Future of DERA, HC 462 Back

18 Defence Committee, Fifth Report of 2000-01, The Draft Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Trading Fund Order 2001, HC 289 Back

19 Q 5 Back

20 Ibid. Back