Actually Graham,
my post was intended to suggest that the problem originates in a number of factors, and probably cannot be laid at a single door, not that I imagine the powers that be would welcome having the guilty parties identified.
However,
which encourages the ability to stick to time and budget?
is one bit I'd have to disagree with being laid at the door of the uniformed contingent, I'd say sticking to time and budget was an issue that BWoS and MoD should be more accountable for.
I'd also tend to suggest that a major factor in MoD going over budget has probably been the way our forces have been committed repeatedly to act in overseas theatres - Gulf 1 and 2, Bosnia, Afghanistan being the headliners but not the only expensive events since 1990. We've been trying to run the forces on peacetime budgets while our political masters have been most reluctant to ensure they have peacetime roles to fulfill.
Having said that about MoD, I have to admit that the cynic in me believes the budget would have been exceeded year in year out had the forces done nothing more strenuous than attend the annual Scout Jamboree during that same period of time....
Dave