APPENDIX 9
Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Secretary of State for Defence on the Investment Approvals
Board (25 March 2002)
INVESTMENT APPROVALS
BOARD
I thought that you would like to know that the
Ministry of Defence's Equipment Approvals Committee (EAC) is being
replaced by an Investment Approvals Board (IAB) on 2 April.
The IAB will have a broadly similar role to
that of the EAC. Its membership, like that of the EAC, will consist
of the Chief Scientific Advisor (Chair), the Vice Chief of the
Defence Staff, the Second Permanent Under Secretary of State,
the Chief of Defence Procurement and the Chief of Defence Logistics.
Like the EAC, the IAB will advise Ministers on major equipment
and other projects.
The main change is that it will have responsibility
for the scrutiny and approvals processes for investment decisions
on all non-equipment projects as well as equipment projects. This
will include those considered by delegated approving authorities.
It will be a major part of the IAB's task to ensure that proposals
for Defence investment are soundly based and deliverable through
robust project management and Smart Acquisition processes.
There are no changes to the existing arrangements
under which Ministers take and announce decisions on major projects
and explain them to Parliament.
I shall be answering a PQ to this effect tomorrow.
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