LONDON - Britain's Ministry of Defence is unable to account for the existence and condition of military hardware worth 6.3 billion pounds ($10.1 billion) according to a report released July 5 by the parliamentary defense committee.
The report said the failure to be able to track equipment meant the National Audit Office, the government's financial-performance watchdog, had opted to qualify MoD accounts from 2009-2010, the fourth successive year that has occurred.
The committee said it was "alarmed that the MoD should be unaware of the location, usability or indeed the continued existence of the assets worth 6.3 billion pounds."
The figure represents 14 percent of the total 45.2 billion pounds ($72.8 billion) of assets reported by the MoD.
The shortfall involved capital spares and inventory valued at 5.5 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) and 752 million pounds ($1.2 billion) of military equipment, including 568 million pounds ($915 million) of grouped assets such as firearms and 184 million pounds ($296 million) of Bowman radios, said the report into the performance of the MoD in 2009-10.
An earlier report by the NAO said the MoD was unable to demonstrate the existence or location of 5,961, or 13 percent, of the digital voice and data radios which were at the heart of the British military's tactical communications capabilities.
That doesn't mean the equipment is lost or not being used somewhere. But the Committee said it was "unacceptable" the MoD couldn't track the whereabouts of the equipment in theater, as it had security as well as financial implications.
Defence Committee Chairman James Arbuthnot said the issue of unaccounted stock was not "some abstract problem existing only on paper: Equipment is needed by troops in the field, and proper logistics are an essential part of effective military operations."
Arbuthnot said the MoD's inability to manage existing resources would hamper any effort to request additional funding.
The cash-strapped MoD is trying to secure additional funding from the Treasury to curtail further reductions to capabilities and programs. The MoD is also struggling to make headway in balancing its books in the face of a 7.5 percent cut in defense spending over the next four years and faces 38 million-pound ($61.2 million) black hole over the next decade in unfunded liabilities.
The MoD said it would take between two and four years to resolve its stock control problems - a timetable the committee said should be speeded up.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the MoD has not managed its resources well for many years. "We inherited a multibillion-pound deficit in defense from the previous government that was characterized by waste and inefficiency. That must change," he said.
"While there are specific difficulties in managing assets in war zones across the globe, we must have better systems in place to accurately track what resources are held and where. I announced major defense reforms last week to deliver clearer structures and financial responsibility across the department. This will be implemented at pace, and I wish to see demonstrable improvement in the MoD's inventory management," Fox said.
The report said the failure to be able to track equipment meant the National Audit Office, the government's financial-performance watchdog, had opted to qualify MoD accounts from 2009-2010, the fourth successive year that has occurred.
The committee said it was "alarmed that the MoD should be unaware of the location, usability or indeed the continued existence of the assets worth 6.3 billion pounds."
The figure represents 14 percent of the total 45.2 billion pounds ($72.8 billion) of assets reported by the MoD.
The shortfall involved capital spares and inventory valued at 5.5 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) and 752 million pounds ($1.2 billion) of military equipment, including 568 million pounds ($915 million) of grouped assets such as firearms and 184 million pounds ($296 million) of Bowman radios, said the report into the performance of the MoD in 2009-10.
An earlier report by the NAO said the MoD was unable to demonstrate the existence or location of 5,961, or 13 percent, of the digital voice and data radios which were at the heart of the British military's tactical communications capabilities.
That doesn't mean the equipment is lost or not being used somewhere. But the Committee said it was "unacceptable" the MoD couldn't track the whereabouts of the equipment in theater, as it had security as well as financial implications.
Defence Committee Chairman James Arbuthnot said the issue of unaccounted stock was not "some abstract problem existing only on paper: Equipment is needed by troops in the field, and proper logistics are an essential part of effective military operations."
Arbuthnot said the MoD's inability to manage existing resources would hamper any effort to request additional funding.
The cash-strapped MoD is trying to secure additional funding from the Treasury to curtail further reductions to capabilities and programs. The MoD is also struggling to make headway in balancing its books in the face of a 7.5 percent cut in defense spending over the next four years and faces 38 million-pound ($61.2 million) black hole over the next decade in unfunded liabilities.
The MoD said it would take between two and four years to resolve its stock control problems - a timetable the committee said should be speeded up.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the MoD has not managed its resources well for many years. "We inherited a multibillion-pound deficit in defense from the previous government that was characterized by waste and inefficiency. That must change," he said.
"While there are specific difficulties in managing assets in war zones across the globe, we must have better systems in place to accurately track what resources are held and where. I announced major defense reforms last week to deliver clearer structures and financial responsibility across the department. This will be implemented at pace, and I wish to see demonstrable improvement in the MoD's inventory management," Fox said.
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