11. The Army stated that at the time it entered into the partnership with Capita in 2012, it was pre-occupied with the war in Afghanistan, which had helped with recruitment. It told us that it had been naïve to think it could just contract out recruitment to an organisation that was not military.4 Capita also accepted that it made mistakes entering into the contract. It had been more interested in "chasing revenue" and winning new contracts rather than its partnership with the Army.5 As a result, Capita under-estimated the complexity of the Armed Forces' requirements. It did not, for example, recognise the level of customisation that was required to develop the new online recruitment system and, as a result, could not use an 'off-the shelf' commercial solution.6 The delays in developing a bespoke application meant Capita could not introduce the digital recruitment approach as originally envisaged at the outset.7
12. The Army and Capita entered into a overly complicated contract, with the Army insisting on 10,000 areas of contract compliance (i.e. contract specifications). The level of complexity reflected the Army's career structure, which had 240 career employment groups, and the Army assumed that Capita would be able to work within this structure.8 This constrained Capita's ability to innovate but the company did not push back on the level of contract specification.9 The Army's management of the Programme has also limited its ability to refine the recruitment process. Between 2013 and 2018, it responded slowly to Capita's proposals to streamline or change the recruitment process.10 The Army told us that it had now reduced some of the complexity of the contract to allow Capita to innovate.11
13. At the outset, Capita introduced a centralised, call-centre approach to recruiting, using Upavon as the national recruiting centre. The Army acknowledged that, as a result, it lost its ability to support candidates through the application process.12 Capita did not trial this approach before its introduction and the Army accepted that it was a mistake not to recognise the importance of face-to-face contact with applicants. They have now ended this approach and put the onus back on local recruitment centres and local engagement with schools and colleges. It is also using military 'role-model' soldiers to promote a career in the the process Army and an enhanced package of support for applicants to help them through.13
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4 Qq 3,16
5 Qq 39, 75
6 C&AG's Report, para 10
7 Q 86
8 Q 3
9 Qq 35, 37-38
10 C&AG's Report, para 18
11 Q 10
12 Q 3
13 Qq 16, 17, 99