Corporate report

Defence Equipment & Support - Public Body Review 2025

Published 30 January 2025

© Crown copyright 2025

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1. Background

DE&S is an Executive Agency and bespoke trading fund that was established in its current form on 1 April 2014. Its key function is to procure and support equipment and supplies for UK Armed Forces. It employs around 11,900 staff, and is headquartered in MOD Abbey Wood, near Bristol.

2. Purpose

The review aimed to assess whether DE&S is:

  • Operating efficiently, realising at least 5% RDEL (resource departmental expenditure limits) savings against the 2022/23 financial year budget baseline.

  • Operating with efficacy, established in the correct form for delivery and with a clear purpose.

  • Operating with accountability, with clear and effective sponsoring and communication in place.

  • Operating with good governance structures across its board and subcommittees in line with Cabinet Office guidance - the review’s first stage was a Self Assessment Model (SAM).

3. Conclusions and Recommendations

DE&S operates well in all areas listed above. DE&S plays a critical role in equipping and supporting UK Armed Forces; its operations are well governed, accountable, efficient (and on track to achieve greater efficiency), and have good efficacy.

DE&S is currently in the midst of its Operating Model Reform, the most significant reform of its operations for over a decade. A key objective of this is to increase DE&S’ efficiency, delivering ‘10% more with 20% less’. As such, amongst a very high degree of cashable and non-cashable internal and external savings, DE&S will achieve well in excess of 5% RDEL efficiencies as a result of the Operating Model Reform.

In the Stage 1 review, none of the 50 major assessment criteria needed addressing/action. Three minor criteria (out of a possible 22) were identified as needing addressing, leaving DE&S with a score of 96% against the SAM criteria. Of these three minors, one is addressed with a recommendation, one will be fixed once the Operating Model Reform has completed, and the last is a wording nuance between the SAM and DE&S’ ways of working. Two recommendations have been identified to ensure DE&S continues to perform in line with the principles of the PBR:

  1. MOD to set out an efficiency target in writing to DE&S

  2. Conduct a more in-depth review once the new Operating Model has fully embedded.

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