This has popped up again this morning on the BBC, as if it is new news.
I’ve no idea what this officer is supposed to have done, but have a feeling the waters are murky.
When MoD decided to stop specifying “requirements” (mainly because they stopped recruiting people who could write them!) the immediate problem faced by industry was how to respond to Invitations to Tender which were vaguely worded with meaningless KURs and URs.
It meant they had to ask clarification questions. That meant dealing with “Commercial” who (a) Hadn’t a scoobie, (b) Didn’t want to admit it so didn’t ask Project Managers who, in turn (c) Were head down because they knew SFA anyway, having been dumped in a PM job without relevant training or experience. Please don’t mention “Requirements Managers” - since being gradually “militarised” since 1988 they have never been taught their primary role, although I notice Bernard Gray has inadvertently stumbled on the “solution”, which resurrects old policy (although he doesn’t realise this).
The problem then is that the bidders are still in the dark, despite asking relevant and fair questions. They must answer the “exam question”, but when it relates to a submarine and the bid is for fast jets, what do they say? They sneak up to a friendly MoD employee, Service or civvy, and quietly ask WTFGO? If the MoD employee so much as answers, he is in breach of so called Commercial Practice. If he dares help the contractor by offering common sense, he is crucified. He’s in a no win situation, because all the while the ISD is slipping; and the bidding has only just begun.
If this has happened in this case, I have a degree of sympathy. I can see how the helpful man would be sucked in. He sees the bidder who is asking proper questions in a better light than the others who are willing to answer “Yes, we will supply submarine gear for your Fast Jet”, thereby gaining top marks in the bid assessment. (All the while preparing a Contract Change Proposal for £MMMs to add the actual requirement, in addition to what we don’t need).
And if you think I’m being facetious with the submarine/fast jet bit; not at all. More common than you think.