Corporate report

Board minutes: 14 January 2025

Published 1 October 2025

Approved Minutes of the 56th Board Meeting

held at 100 Parliament Street, SW1 and via video-conference

14 January 2025 10:00-13:00

Board members present:	Others present:
Hannah Nixon (Chair)	Anthony Bende-Nabende (for part)
Roy Barker	Malcolm Botting (for part)
Peter Freeman	Alan Brennan (for part)
Hugh Kelly	Charlie Dalton (for part)
John Russell	Ben Gilding (for part)
Joanne Watts	David Goodwin (for part)
Claire Williams	Colin Hill
	Ben Johnson (for part)
	Veli Koc (for part)
	Ruaidhri Magee (for part)
	Simon Mahony (for part)
	Sarah Quartermain (for part)
	Susan Richardson (minutes)
	Mark Russell (DE&S)
	Akhlaq Shah (for part)
	Colin Sharples (for part)
	Apoorvan Thamilmaran (for part)
	Tara Usher (MOD Representative)
	Amar Vara (for part)
	Chris Willcox

1. Closed Board discussion

The Chair held a private session with Non-executive Board Members (NEBMs), the Chief Executive and the Chief Regulatory Officer.

2. Welcome, apologies, announcements, and declarations of interest

The Chair welcomed Board members and attendees to the meeting, including Mark Russell (Chair, DE&S), and Chris Willcox (Principal Accounting Advisor), attending as the ‘open chair’ representative. The Chair announced that the Min DPI had approved the re-appointment of NEBMs Hugh Kelly and Claire Williams for second terms, effective from 1 June 2025.

Apologies had been received from NEBM Alastair Groom, who had provided comments on the papers ahead of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

3. Guest speaker: Mark Russell, Chair, DE&S

Mark Russell provided an overview of current defence reviews; the wider defence procurement landscape from the DE&S perspective; and his views of the regime and the SSRO’s role.  He recognised our work to increase the SSRO’s visibility and to promote the use of DefCARS.  He also acknowledged our work on stakeholder engagement and encouraged us to continue building relationships across the defence sector.

On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Mark Russell for finding the time to join the Board meeting, and for the helpful opportunity to hear direct his views.

4. Minutes of 55th meeting held on 17 December 2024 (SSRO 01-0125), and action tracker (SSRO 02-0125)

The minutes of the Board meeting held on 17 December 2024 were approved as a correct record, subject to minor amendments.  There were no outstanding actions.

The Board noted that the annual Chair’s letter for 2024-25 had now been issued and discussed the positive stakeholder feedback received in relation to the SSRO’s skills. Action: the Head of Policy, Referrals and Support would circulate the feedback to the Board.

The Board approved, subject to minor amendments, as a correct record the minutes of the 55th SSRO Board meeting held on 17 December 2024.

5. Corporate Plan 2025-28 outline (SSRO 03-0125)

The Board discussed the outline structure for the Corporate Plan 2025-28, including proposed objectives and activities, taking into account the external environment, and feedback provided through engagement with SSRO stakeholders.

It was noted that the Plan was being updated in a fluid environment, with the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review not known.  This may mean that the Plan would be subject to change in-year if the review impacted on the work of the SSRO.

The Board was keen that the SSRO take the opportunity to contribute to the Defence Industrial Strategy in February 2025, and the MOD sponsor would seek to identify the right contacts at the MOD. Action: the Chief Executive would share the SSRO’s contribution to the DIS with the Board ahead of submission.

The Board commented on and endorsed the proposed outline and approach.  The Board would receive a final version of the Corporate Plan 2025-28 for approval at its March 2025 meeting.

The Board:

• considered and discussed the proposed structure, objectives and activities; and
• noted that the final Corporate Plan 2025-28 would be presented to the Board for approval at its March 2025 meeting.

6. Outcome of FPA consultation and new guidance (SSRO 04-0125)

Members of the Pricing & Economics team presented the SSRO’s new Final Price Adjustment (FPA) guidance and the response to the stakeholder consultation for Board approval ahead of publication.  The FPA guidance had been produced under new powers under the Procurement Act 2023, and had been developed in response to stakeholder feedback that parties to qualifying contracts would benefit from additional support in relation to the FPA.  The draft guidance had been well received by stakeholders.

The Board endorsed the guidance for publication and thanked the team for an excellent piece of work that was a good example of how the SSRO could respond to industry needs and encouraged this approach in future guidance.

The Board:

• approved the publication of the consultation response, new guidance and the FPA calculator.
• delegated to the Chief Executive the approval of any minor changes to the documents prior to publication.

The MOD Observer left the room for the duration of the following item

7. 2025-26 Profit Rate Assessment recommendation (SSRO 05-0125)

The Head of Pricing and Economics, supported by members of the team, presented the 2025-26 baseline profit rate (BPR), capital servicing rates (CSRs), and government owned contractor rate (‘the rates’) for recommendation to the Secretary of State.  The Board also received a copy of the supporting information that would be provided alongside the recommendation.

The Board discussed and approved the 2025-26 rates recommendation for submission to the Secretary of State.  The Board’s discussion focused on the handling of the key messages to the Secretary of State.

The Board:

• approved the proposed rates as the SSRO’s assessment of the appropriate rates for 2025-26;
• approved the supporting analysis that the SSRO would provide to the Secretary of State to assist in their determination, and the materials for publication after the Secretary of State had announced the 2025-26 rates;
• agreed that the SSRO Chair would write to the Secretary of State with the SSRO’s recommendation and supporting materials; and
• delegated authority to the Chief Executive to make minor revisions to, and approve, the final documents for provision to the Secretary of State by 31 January 2025 and for publication after the Secretary of State’s announcement, expected in March 2025.decision in January 2025.

The MOD Observer re-joined the meeting

8. DefCARS Data Utilisation update (SSRO 06-0125)

Members of the Analysis and Data Platform team and Compliance, Reporting & IT team provided an overview of the SSRO’s data utilisation work.  The presentation included a demonstration of new management information tools aimed at MOD users.

The Board thanked the team for an interesting presentation and welcomed the useful reports. The Board endorsed the continued development of these reports and was keen that the SSRO continued to listen and respond to user feedback to allow the SSRO to add more value in the future.

The next steps for data utilisation would be shared outside of the meeting. Action: Chief Regulatory Officer

The Board noted the presentation and commented on current activities and future priorities.

9. Future workplan (SSRO 07-0125) and reflections on meeting

The Board noted the summary of future Board meeting business and reflected on the business considered at the meeting.

10. Any other business

The Board discussed the SSRO’s contribution and engagement around the review of the single source contract regulations.

11. Next Board meeting

The next meeting of the Board would take place on 25 March 2025.