The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
483.
The increase
in funding approved for UORs drove an increase in overall
NACMO
from
2007/08. The table below shows the funds drawn by the MOD from the
Reserve to
cover
NACMO, including UORs, in relation to Iraq.290
Total
NACMO
02/03 03/04
04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 Total
847
1,311 910
958 956 1,458 1,381 342
8,163
484.
The
arrangements for funding UORs which had been agreed between the
MOD
and the
Treasury in September 2002 continued to operate until autumn
2006.
485.
In autumn
2006, the UOR envelopes for Iraq and Afghanistan were
combined,
with a view
to providing additional flexibility in managing UOR funding and to
reduce
bureaucracy
in the MOD and the Treasury.291
486.
Mr Des
Browne, the Defence Secretary, was advised by an MOD official
on
24 November
2006 that he should write to Mr Stephen Timms, Chief Secretary
to the
Treasury,
to request an increase of £460m in the combined UOR
envelope.292
Despite
tight
controls, the requirements for UORs continued “at a rate higher
than anticipated,
and
considerably above historical norms”, because of:
•
the
intensity of operations in Afghanistan;
•
the slow
drawdown of forces from Iraq;
•
the
constantly evolving threat in both theatres; and
•
“a
decreased willingness, at all levels, to ‘make do’ with sub‑optimal
solutions
and
uncomfortable living and working conditions now that both
operations
[Afghanistan
and Iraq] have become enduring”.
487.
The size of
the request prompted Mr Browne’s Assistant Private Secretary
to do
“a little
digging” into the MOD’s UOR system.293
He reported
to Mr Browne that:
“The UOR
system – the people who make bids on it and those who
sanction
bids within
it – are changing their attitude. There is greater willingness to
ask for
technical
solutions to reduce risk and discomfort and less inclination to
block such
bids.
Partly this is because there is a perception (rightly or
wrongly) that the political
environment
has changed, and money is no longer the constraint it was
…
290
Letter
Quinault to Aldred, 1 March 2010, [untitled]; Letter Cabinet Office
[junior official] to Aldred,
1 July
2011, ‘Iraq Inquiry: Request for Further Information on Funding’;
Letter Cabinet Office [junior official]
to Aldred,
13 September 2011, ‘Iraq Inquiry: Request for Further Information
on Funding’.
291
Minute MOD
[junior official] to PS/Secretary of State [MOD], 24 November 2006,
‘Additional Funding
for Urgent
Operational Requirements (UORs)’.
292
Minute MOD
[junior official] to PS/Secretary of State [MOD], 24 November 2006,
‘Additional Funding
for Urgent
Operational Requirements (UORs)’.
293
Minute MOD
[junior official] to Browne, [undated], ‘UOR Funding – Iraq and
Afghanistan’.
524