Introduction
Since 2012, the Department has published an annual
statement on the affordability of its 10-year plan to deliver
and support the equipment that the Armed Forces (the commands)
require to meet the objectives set out in the National Security
Strategy. This Equipment Plan is based on a detailed forecast
of future project costs. From 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2024, the
equipment budget is £163 billion. Each year, the Department
also presents to Parliament a major projects report, providing
data on the in-year cost, time and performance of the largest
defence projects. In 2013-14, DE&S, which is responsible for
buying and supporting defence equipment, employed some 16,000
permanent members of staff, supplemented with an estimated 3,400
contractors and had running costs of £1.3 billion. The Department
launched a programme in May 2011 to improve the performance of
DE&S through organisational change.
The Department is seeking to tackle funding pressures
by restructuring the Army. Army 2020 is an ambitious programme
of change that seeks, for the first time, to integrate fully a
regular Army of 82,500 with a larger and more frequently used
Army Reserve of 30,000. This represents a significant change from
pre-2010 levels of some 102,000 trained regular soldiers and 19,000
trained reserve soldiers. The Department projects that this revised
force size will reduce the cost of the Army by £10.6 billion
between 2011-12 and 2021-22.
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