Key recommendation 1. Strengthened top-level decision-making should be centred on a new and smaller Defence Board chaired by the Defence Secretary, with another Minister, the PUS, CDS, DG Finance, Chief of Defence Materiel and three Non-Executive Directors as members, responsible for providing strategic direction to the Department and holding it to account. The Department should place an emphasis on individual executive accountability, with the formal committee structure reduced and simplified. |
a. The new Defence Board should be the primary decision-making body for non operational matters. It should meet ten times a year. It should subsume the functions of the current Defence Board. |
b. Formal sub-committees to the new Defence Board should be established to conduct investment approvals (Investment Approvals Committee), audit (Defence Audit Committee) and to oversee the career management system for senior civilians and military officers (Appointments Committee). |
4.1 This section sets out the changes we are proposing to the top level decision-making mechanisms, and particularly to the Defence Board and other senior committees.