Key recommendation 5. The focus of the Service Chiefs should be on running their Service, including the development and generation of forces within their allocated budget, combined with their existing responsibility for the custodianship of their Service, and they should be empowered to perform their role effectively. |
a. The Service Chiefs should remain responsible for the overall leadership and custodianship of their Service, and should continue to provide operational advice to CDS and, when required, Ministers, on the employment of their Service. |
b. The Service Chiefs' 'direct' role in departmental strategy, resource allocation and Defence management should be reduced, though PUS and CDS should continue to seek their advice on issues relating to their Service as appropriate. |
c. As a result of these changes to the role of the Service Chiefs, and to avoid duplication, the Services should no longer need a 4 star Commander-in-Chief, although this will also require further changes of responsibility at the 3 star level. |
d. The Service Chiefs' principal supporting staff should be based at their Service headquarters, with a much reduced staff, headed at two-star level, based in Head Office. |
7.1 This section sets out the role of the Service Chiefs in the new model.
7.2 The role of the Royal Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force and how they interact operationally and administratively has long been a key issue in the organisation of the Ministry of Defence. Under the current model the Service Chiefs perform a number of roles. They are the professional heads of their Service and as such are responsible for morale and fighting effectiveness and for providing advice to CDS and Ministers on the use of their Service on operations. They are top-level budget holders responsible to the PUS for the delivery of outputs and for the effective and proper use of resources. But they are also members of the Defence Board and in this capacity play a role in deciding overall departmental strategy, resource allocation priorities and the broader management of Defence.