Tuesday, October 15, 2024

This is an ARCHIVED article at baff.org.uk. Information and/or links may well be out of date.

The Ministry of Defence has become "more wasteful" and "worse at caring" for Armed Forces personnel since the Coalition took office, military staff and defence officials believe. The Daily Telegraph reports on the results of polling for the MoD's annual report:

Fewer than half of the Service personnel and defence officials questioned in an internal Whitehall survey said that the MoD gives taxpayers value for money.

The ministry carries out an annual survey of military and civilian staff, asking for their opinion of its work.

The proportion who said they believed the MoD “gives the taxpayer value for money” fell to 46 per cent this year, down from 52 per cent.

The share of respondents who believed that “the UK Armed Forces look after their personnel” dropped from 51 per cent to 46 per cent.

The figure for those describing the MoD as “a force for good” fell from 79 per cent to 75 per cent.

However, the share of those who thought the Armed Forces are given “good or satisfactory” equipment rose from 72 per cent to 75 per cent.

The figure for those saying the MoD looks after civilian staff dropped from 59 per cent to 50 per cent. The Coalition has announced plans to cut more than 20,000 civilian jobs from the department.

In its annual report, the MoD said the survey results were good news.

“The majority of our people agree that both the Armed Forces and the MoD are a force for good. Internal views on equipment have increased again,” the department said.