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UK Trade & Investment |
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On 1st April 2008 UK Trade & Investment became the part of the UK government with the remit to promote military exports. UKTI is an organisation for which the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office are jointly responsible. Previously, there had been an arms export agency, the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO), located within the Ministry of Defence. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had announced the closure of DESO in July 2007, causing much anger in the arms industry. About 200 DESO staff transferred from the MoD to UKTI, where they have formed the Defence & Security Organisation (DSO). The DSO staff numbers are far greater than for any of the around 40 civil industry sectors, but, CAAT understands, it is quite usual for whole groups to be moved when "machinery of government" changes are made. The situation then adapts gradually: the additional money that is allocated to the new department in respect of the move is not ring-fenced. The DS0 will, like all the other sectors, be operating to UKTI strategic objectives, be answerable to the UKTI Board and its head will report to the UKTI Chief Executive.
The changesOne immediate change is that the first head of DSO, in contrast with all the recent heads of DESO, does not have an arms industry background. Richard Paniguian, appointed in June 2008, is an oil executive from BP. Unlike the DESO heads, his salary will not be topped-up by the arms industry. It is reported that Alan Garwood, the former head of DESO, had his salary raised from civil service levels to £400,000 in this way. Another change is that DSO will have to account for its use of MoD facilities and personnel. The Service Level Agreement between UKTI and the MoD, which is on the UKTI website, sets out in some detail who provides and pays for what.
What next?CAAT will be monitoring UKTI to see that the disproportionate allocation of resources to military exports does decline. Digby, Lord Jones, the Minister responsible for UKTI, professed himself enthusiastic about adding military sales to UKTI's portfolio, but the arms companies will have to make their case for their share of UKTI resources against the claims of other industries - they are unlikely to find the latter particularly sympathetic to pleadings for greater support. This is particularly so as military equipment accounts for less than 2% of the UK's visible exports and UK Defence Statistics show that 65,000 jobs (just 0.2% of the national labour force) are sustained by them.
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Campaign Against Arms Trade, 11 Goodwin St, Finsbury Park, London N4 3HQ
Tel: +44-(0)20 7281 0297 | Fax: +44-(0)20 7281 4369