35-590: The Military Aviation Authority ( MAA ) is an organisation within the British Ministry of Defence and is the single regulatory authority responsible for regulating all aspects of Air Safety across Defence, with full oversight of all Defence aviation activity. It is part of the MoD, but operates independently, via a Charter signed by the Secretary of State for Defence . The MAA was established on 1 April 2010 in response to
70-578: A defence policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces: The review stated the Armed Forces will also contribute to the government's response to crises by being prepared to: Defence is governed and managed by several committees. The following organisational groups come under the control of the MOD. Top level budgets The MOD comprises seven top-level budgets . The head of each organisation
105-568: A government department and has responsibility for the strategy, performance, reform, organisation and the finances of the MOD. The role works closely with the Chief of the Defence Staff in leading the organisation and supporting Ministers in the conduct of business in the department across the full range of responsibilities. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set
140-587: A million people along the south coast of England, from Torquay to the New Forest , were exposed to bacteria including E.coli and Bacillus globigii , which mimics anthrax ." Two scientists commissioned by the Ministry of Defence stated that these trials posed no risk to the public. This was confirmed by Sue Ellison, a representative of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down who said that
175-555: A racial discrimination claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In November 2019, mixed race soldier Mark De Kretser sued MoD for £100k claiming he was subjected to "grindingly repetitive" racist taunts from colleagues. In October 2009, the MOD was heavily criticised for withdrawing the bi-annual non-operational training £20m budget for the Territorial Army (TA), ending all non-operational training for six months until April 2010. The government eventually backed down and restored
210-479: A separate position. In the nineteenth century, the post was twice held by future prime minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman . At the outset of the First World War , prime minister H. H. Asquith was filling the role, but he quickly appointed Lord Kitchener , who became famous while in this position for Lord Kitchener Wants You . He was replaced by David Lloyd George , who went on to become prime minister. Between
245-572: A system called the Defence Sourcing Portal. A separate internal policy generally operates in respect of low value purchasing below this threshold. DEFCON contract conditions are numbered defence contract conditions are in contracts issued by the MOD (not to be confused with DEFCON as used by the United States Armed Forces , which refers to a level of military "defence readiness condition"). Examples include: A full set of
280-585: Is neoclassical in style and was originally built between 1938 and 1959 to designs by Vincent Harris to house the Air Ministry and the Board of Trade . A major refurbishment of the building was completed under a Private Finance Initiative contract by Skanska in 2004. The northern entrance in Horse Guards Avenue is flanked by two monumental statues, Earth and Water , by Charles Wheeler . Opposite stands
315-593: Is "in excess of £3.3 billion". The defence estate is divided as training areas & ranges (84.0%), research & development (5.4%), airfields (3.4%), barracks & camps (2.5%), storage & supply depots (1.6%), and other (3.0%). These are largely managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation . The headquarters of the MOD are in Whitehall and is known as MOD Main Building . This structure
350-552: Is also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel). Permanent Secretary and other senior officials The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by several civilian, scientific and professional military advisors. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence (generally known as the Permanent Secretary ) is the senior civil servant at the MOD. Their role is to ensure that it operates effectively as
385-678: Is located at MoD Abbey Wood in Bristol. On 1 April 2015, the MAA became part of the Defence Safety Authority . The MAA is led by: This United Kingdom military article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Defence ( MOD or MoD ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom . It
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#1732870089567420-704: Is personally accountable for the performance and outputs of their particular organisation. These are: Executive agencies Executive non-departmental public bodies Advisory non-departmental public bodies Ad-hoc advisory group Other bodies Public corporations Enabling organisation In addition, the MOD is responsible for the administration of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Competitive procurement processes are used whenever possible, and all new direct tender and contract opportunities valued over £10,000 are advertised on
455-601: Is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces . The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement . The expenditure, administration and policy of
490-676: The Gurkha Monument, sculpted by Philip Jackson and unveiled in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II . Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial, and nearby are memorials to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF (to its east, facing the riverside). Henry VIII 's wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall , built in 1514–1516 for Cardinal Wolsey , is in the basement of Main Building, and is used for entertainment. The entire vaulted brick structure of
525-632: The Cabinet. The three service ministers – Admiralty, War, Air – remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet. From 1946 to 1964, five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty , the War Office , the Air Ministry , the Ministry of Aviation , and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. Those departments merged in 1964, and
560-564: The Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee 's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946 . After 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War , First Lord of the Admiralty , and Secretary of State for Air were formally subordinated to the new Minister of Defence , who had a seat in
595-464: The DEFCONs can be accessed via the MoD's Defence Gateway (registration required). The government noted in 2013 that the MoD's third-party expenditure was characterised by "complex, high-value contracts". Defence purchasing contributes to government ambitions to make supply chains more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises , but the government commented that it had yet to secure good insight into
630-640: The Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister . The CDS is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) who deputises and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the armed services aspect of the MOD through the Central Staff, working closely alongside
665-534: The MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee , except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament . During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during World War I , concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up
700-611: The Permanent Secretary. They are joined by the professional heads of the three British armed services ( Royal Navy , British Army and Royal Air Force ) and the Commander of Strategic Command . All personnel sit at OF-9 rank in the NATO rank system . Together the Chiefs of Staff form the Chiefs of Staff Committee with responsibility for providing advice on operational military matters and
735-473: The World Wars, the post was held by future prime minister Winston Churchill for two years. In 1946, the three posts of secretary of state for war, first lord of the admiralty , and secretary of state for air became formally subordinated to that of minister of defence , which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues. In the 1960s, John Profumo held this post at
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#1732870089567770-401: The allocation of contracts. A government report covered by The Guardian newspaper in 2002 indicated that between 1940 and 1979, the Ministry of Defence "turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public" and many of these tests "involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swathes of
805-623: The armed forces of the United Kingdom: the Royal Navy , the British Army and the Royal Air Force . The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by the coalition government of David Lloyd George in 1921, but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923, for the purposes of inter-service co-ordination. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created
840-564: The cellar was encased in steel and concrete and relocated nine feet to the west and nearly 19 feet (5.8 m) deeper in 1949, when construction was resumed at the site after World War II . This was carried out without any significant damage to the structure. The most notable fraud conviction has been that of Gordon Foxley , Director of Ammunition Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984. Police claimed he received at least £3.5m in total in corrupt payments, such as substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence
875-497: The defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply were merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The unification of all defence activities under a single ministry was motivated by a desire to curb interservice rivalries and followed the precedent set by the American National Security Act of 1947 . The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold: The Chief of
910-603: The funding. The TA provides a small percentage of the UK's operational troops. Its members train on weekly evenings and monthly weekends, as well as two-week exercises generally annually and occasionally bi-annually for troops doing other courses. The cuts would have meant a significant loss of personnel and would have had adverse effects on recruitment. In 2013, it was found that the Ministry of Defence had overspent on its equipment budget by £6.5bn on orders that could take up to 39 years to fulfil. The Ministry of Defence has been criticised in
945-454: The past for poor management and financial control. Specific examples of overspending include: In May 2024, the ministry's payroll system was reportedly targeted multiple times in a cyberattack in which personnel and their bank details were compromised. While initial reports attributed the cyberattack to China , the Minister of Defence Grant Shapps said it would take some time to conclude who
980-475: The population without the public being told." The Ministry of Defence claims that these trials were to simulate germ warfare and that the tests were harmless. However, families who have been in the area of many of the tests are experiencing children with birth defects and physical and mental handicaps and many are asking for a public inquiry. The report estimated these tests affected millions of people, including during one period between 1961 and 1968 where "more than
1015-478: The position of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence . Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield held the post until the fall of the Chamberlain government in 1940. His success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments, and his lack of political influence. On forming his government in 1940, Winston Churchill created the office of Minister of Defence, to exercise ministerial control over
1050-592: The preparation and conduct of military operations. The current Chiefs of Staff are as follows. The Chief of Defence Staff is supported by several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff and senior officers at OF-8 rank. Additionally, there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff , including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom , who
1085-513: The recommendations made by Mr Justice Haddon-Cave in his Nimrod Review , which called for a radical overhaul of military airworthiness regulation. The authority incorporates the former Directorate of Aviation Regulation & Safety , previously the Defence Aviation Safety Centre ( DASC ) which had been located at RAF Bentley Priory until the station closed in 2008 and the organisation moved to RAF Northolt . The MAA, which
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1120-576: The results from these trials "will save lives, should the country or our forces face an attack by chemical and biological weapons." In February 2019, former soldier Inoke Momonakaya won £458,000 payout after a legal battle for the racial harassment and bullying he received while serving in the army. In August 2019, A Commons Defence Select Committee report revealed that several female and BAME military staff have raised concerns regarding discrimination, bullying and harassment. In September 2019, two former British army soldiers Nkululeko Zulu and Hani Gue won
1155-417: The supply chain role of SMEs. The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, owning 227,300 hectares of land and foreshore (either freehold or leasehold) at April 2014, which was valued at "about £20 billion". The MOD also has "rights of access" to a further 222,000 hectares. In total, this is about 1.8% of the UK land mass. The total annual cost to support the defence estate
1190-405: Was also a member of parliament (MP), and a military Secretary , who was a general . The position of secretary of state for war was first held by Henry Dundas who was appointed in 1794. In 1801, the post became that of secretary of state for war and the colonies . The position of secretary of state for war was re-instated in 1854 when the secretary of state for the colonies was created as
1225-416: Was to blame. Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war , commonly called the war secretary , was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom , which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Office and was assisted by a parliamentary under-secretary of state for war , a parliamentary private secretary who
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