The advantage of a GOCO is that it can hire professionally qualified and experienced programme directors to manage complex programmes- with the greatest of respect to our Armed Forces, that isn't what you're good at. You just have to look at all the massive projects around the world that are successful and accept that one of those folks, could do what MOD cannot.
Decisions to take line items out are not crazy - they are the least worse option for an organisation that wastes cash like no other part of government. Its not some nasty bunch of folks stealing from MOD - its MOD burning a hole in the public pocket and being told there is no more money tree. MOD is the new Greece - simply n o longer trusted to be wise with money.
As the Goco doesn't exist, nobody has the right to be dismissive about what it can or cannot do as what there is now doesn't work.
Oversight is good thing, but oversight it should stay. Most problems IMO come not from oversight, but from reinterpretation and interference. I have no idea how the URS/OA guys will come up with the demands and seek oversight, but things will become far more functional IMO. Under current regimes, if there are two equally valid interpretations of a requirement, and the contractor does A and the user wants B, the project will be overbudget and delayed while arguments ensue.
In the future, our Armed Forces will have to justify every change of requirement within a fixed budget line and if there's no cash they they will get what the Goco provides as a valid interpretation. If changes are required, then its time to dig into reserved and do UOR or similar.
UORs offer great value for money as long as the main equipment is delivered on time and I suspect but cannot be certain, that if kit were delivered on time, to cost and quality but was only 80% of what the suers changed their mind into, the UOR costs would be miniscule compared to heaving the original programme all over the calendar, running a huge cost overrun and giving the supply chain the excuse for non-performance.
Last edited by GrahamO; 26th Apr 2013 at 17:09.