Originally Posted by
Just This Once...
Even frontline commands are handcuffed to HMT - their delegated authority is capped at £100k. Even amounts below this may still have to be referred to HMT if they meet the ever-widening 'novel or contentious' limitations.
The big ticket items are all at the whim of HMT. Even when funded and approved HMT reserves the right to arbitrarily cut funding or delay programmes, even if this attracts additional costs down the line. HMT-induced delays are the biggest additional cost burden on the MoD (I guess they must have a similar death-grip on other government departments, but I have no direct knowledge). HMT-induced costs are always attributed to the MoD and, dutifully, the press follows the usual lines and heaps scorn on the MoD with an artificial belief that there are bunch of senior people in the MoD are moving money around as they see fit within a fixed budget. Even Urgent Operational Requirements have to laid before the Treasury and they don't even have to write a justification piece if they decide not to fund a requirement; a simple rejection will suffice with the operational risk remaining with operational commander.
None of this is new, it just gets overlooked.
While there may well be, probably is, truth in your comments, let's not rush to absolve everyone downstream from the repercussions of their decision making.
In the old world, there was much to be gained by sticking to the adage of look after the pennies etc.
Nowadays, we see so much waste that we become conditioned to it. I doubt that HM Treasury dictated the issue of wiggly greens and a Kevlar hat for everyone at basic training. That's more likely to have cost the service money as a result of awarding a supply contract to a former supplier, than to have enhanced operational capability through flexibility.
With such evidence of a reluctance to be prudent with the small change, it's no surprise that the Mandarins think that senior RAF Officers are unable to look after a large budget.
The farce of trainee aircrew holding for years, must be the best example of waste.
The RAF should take a lesson from the commercial world. Establish when (if) Valley will (might) be ready for students, recruit accordingly, and bin everyone in a hold, asap.
Curtail flying pay for people who have not flown for weeks, never mind months/years. Ensure that active aircrew are getting the hours they need to be really current, not just the minimum. Allocate enough staff to sections to be able to support the flying program, instead of this slash and burn approach to being the next guy who deserves a promotion for instigating cost savings by having people doing less.