27.06.11
Top military and ministerial posts to go after defence review
Defence Secretary Liam Fox (pictured) has accepted the recommendations of a review that concludes the MoD needs major reform, with fewer senior officers and more streamlined decision-making.
The report, by Lord Levene, could also see ministerial posts axed. Each of the three services will face cutbacks at the senior level, with each to be run by a single commander, instead of the top post being split between strategy and day-to-day operations.
The three service chiefs will no longer sit on the defence board, a powerful committee, and will instead be represented by the chief of the defence staff, currently General Sir David Richards.
The position of deputy chief of the defence staff is also likely to disappear when its current incumbent moves on.
These reductions in responsibility for the service chief will be compensated for by increased powers over their own budgets and internal appointments.
Fox will say in a speech today that the MoD has “overly bureaucratic management structures, dominated by committees that led to indecisiveness and a lack of responsibility”. He said the report contains “a vision of transformation on a scale not seen in defence for a generation”.
About 8,000 of the MoD’s civil service posts are likely to be scrapped over the next year.
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]