The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has made slow progress in improving support systems for the transport of front line equipment and supplies, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said this week.

MPs were questioning four senior staff from the department – including permanent secretary Ursula Brennan and chief of defence materiel Bernard Gray – during an inquiry into its use of data to manage its supply chain.

The MoD is investing millions in programmes to improve its logistics management, including a £183m project to improve the management of equipment stores across all three services, and an £803m 11-year contract with Boeing to integrate 270 logistics systems.

MPs pointed out that, after critical select committee reports, the MoD had previously made commitments to resolve issues in stock control and logistics management which have not been fulfilled.

A National Audit Office report published earlier this year highlighted problems in the department’s information systems and said a lack of information means the department is keeping the military supplied by either stockpiling more than necessary or sending too many routine items by air – a quicker route than sea/land transport, but also more costly.

At the PAC hearing, MoD officials stressed that they prioritise ensuring there are adequate supplies at the frontline over cost efficiency.

The NAO report suggested that the department could save £15m a year by transferring 10 per cent of items presently sent by air to Afghanistan to surface delivery routes.

At the inquiry, Gray questioned this figure, saying: “We don’t accept the contention that you can switch that proportion to land; nor indeed does the report substantiate that it could.” Nonetheless, said Gray, “we agree that we need a better logistics information system for a whole variety of reasons. Whether or not it gives rise to any material change in behaviour and additional value for money, I think is an unproven assertion.”

Written by Suzannah Brecknell, CSW