6.3 |
Military equipment (pre-conflict)
27.
The Public
Accounts Committee stated:
“We
consider it unacceptable that the lack of elementary tracking led
to some
operationally
critical items being ‘lost to view’, and note that 228 aircraft
pallets worth
£680,000
went missing completely during GRANBY. The failure to be able to
locate
some
equipment also led to some duplicate requisitioning.
“We stress
the importance of the Department taking urgent action to improve
their
management
information systems relating to movements … we recommend that
the
Department
have regard to the best systems in operation in the commercial
sector,
in
particular those used for keeping track of assets.”
28.
In 1997, the
Public Accounts Committee report on the UK’s operations in the
former
Yugoslavia
found that it was “unsatisfactory” that asset tracking had “again
proved to be
a problem”,
despite assurances given by the MOD following the first Gulf
Conflict.13
“We suggest
that some of the problems with the Department’s asset
tracking
systems,
particularly the strain on communications systems and the large
volumes
of data,
could be regarded as foreseeable consequences of an
operational
environment.
We note that the Department are considering what systems might
be
appropriate
for the future. We recommend that, in doing this, they give
particular
attention
to ensuring that they have systems robust enough to deal with
operational
conditions;
it is at such times that large quantities of equipment and stores
tend to
be moving
around, and it becomes easy to lose sight of them.”
30.
The Public
Accounts Committee reported on operations in the former
Yugoslavia
again in
2000 and found that:
“The
Department has little capacity to monitor the supply chain’s
performance in
theatre,
nor the condition and reliability of equipments in theatre. The
Department
do not
expect to have IT systems fully operating to provide such
information until
31.
A military
exercise in 2001 found that British equipment did not work well
in
hot and
dusty conditions and needed to be improved, given the UK’s focus
on
expeditionary
operations.
32.
The
exercise also identified difficulties with clothing, boots and
asset
tracking.
13
Twenty-third
Report from the Committee of Public Accounts, Session
1996-97, Ministry of
Defence:
Management of
the Military Operations in the Former Yugoslavia,
HC 242, paras 45-46.
14
Forty-sixth
Report from the Committee of Public Accounts 1999-2000 –
Ministry of
Defence: Kosovo –
The
Financial Management of Military Operations.
7