On 25 January the Defence Secretary made a statement to the House
of Commons announcing that the Defence strand of the ongoing
National Security Capability Review (NSCR) was being separated,
and that a new Modernising Defence Programme (MDP) would take its
place. The rationale of the MDP remains that the threats facing
the UK have become more “complex and intertwined”. Unlike the
NSCR, the Secretary of State indicated that he did not intend for
the MDP to be a fiscally neutral exercise.
The MDP will be made up of four strands, three of which will look
at organisation, efficiency management and business and
commercial practices in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and a
fourth focusing on capability and force structure. The
department’s intention is to publish the review before the House
of Commons rises for its summer recess in late July. The
Committee is seeking to take evidence in order to lay out its
priorities and expectations ahead of the MDP reporting.
Evidence given by HE Ms Tiina Intelmann, Ambassador of Estonia,
HE Mrs Baiba Braze, Ambassador of Latvia,
HE Mr Renatus Norkus, Ambassador of Lithuania
Justin Bronk, Research Fellow, RUSI,
Dr Andrew Monaghan, Director of Research on Russia and Northern
European Defence and Security, Changing Character of War Centre,
Pembroke College, Oxford,
Sir Adam Thomson, former UK Permanent Representative to NATO
Modernising
Defence Programme
