Financial Risk:
Low
Score:
82/100
Asset Disposals
Q24
75/100
How effective are controls over the disposal of assets, and is information on these disposals, and the proceeds of their sale, transparent?
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The Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) (previously the Disposal Services Authority) is the organisation within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that has sole authority…
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Planned disposals are known in advance, published on DESA’s website [1]. However, at the time of research, the website only displayed the notices of…
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Only general/aggregated information about the financial results of asset disposals is regularly made publicly available in the MoD Annual Report and Accounts, whereas detailed…
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Q25
75/100
Is independent and transparent scrutiny of asset disposals conducted by defence establishments, and are the reports of such scrutiny publicly available?
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The scrutiny of asset disposals falls under the remit of the National Audit Office (NAO). For example, in its 2017 report on the MoD,…
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The NAO’s independence and auditory powers are enshrined in the National Audit Act (NAA) 1983 (s.6 & 8 particularly) and the Budget Responsibility and…
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Audit reports by the NAO are released as part of the MoDs Annual Report and Accounts reports [1]. The reports are comprehensive and detailed…
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Secret Budgets
Q26
50/100
What percentage of defence and security expenditure in the budget year is dedicated to spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services?
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The total expenditure dedicated to the Single Intelligence Account (which represents the combined budgets of MI5, SIS, GCHQ) in 2019-2020 was £3,152,460,000 (Total Net…
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Q27
100/100
Is the legislature (or the appropriate legislative committee or members of the legislature) given full information for the budget year on the spending of all secret items relating to national security and military intelligence?
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The Intelligence and Security Committee is provided with the individual figures for each intelligence Agency (MI5, SIS, GCHQ, NSS). This represents extensive information on…
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Q28
63/100
Are audit reports of the annual accounts of the security sector (the military and intelligence services) subject to parliamentary debate?
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The audit reports of the accounts of the intelligence services are provided to the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts and to the…
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There is no indication to suggest that the Parliament has debated the audited Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement in the past 4 years…
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Q29
100/100
In law, are off-budget military expenditures permitted, and if so, are they exceptional occurrences that are well-controlled? In practice, are there any off-budget military expenditures? If so, does evidence suggest this involves illicit economic activity?
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All defence-related expenditures are recorded in the official budget, which is subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval [1, 2]. All government spending is authorised…
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This is Not Applicable, as all defence-related expenditures are recorded in the official budget, which is subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval [1, 2].
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All defence-related expenditures are recorded in the official budget, which is subject to parliamentary scrutiny and approval [1, 2]. The assessor plans to add…
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Q30
88/100
Are mechanisms for accessing information from the defence sector effective?
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The UK Ministry of Defence operates a publication scheme which makes information available to the public about how it operates and how it spends…
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This indicator is Not Scored in the GDI. The Government operates a system of classification of information under a clear legal framework to ensure…
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An overview of the Transparency and Freedom of Information releases of the MoD suggests that the public is able to access information within a…
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Q31
88/100
Do national defence and security institutions have beneficial ownership of commercial businesses? If so, how transparent are details of the operations and finances of such businesses?
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The MoD controls two Executive Defence Agencies that are established as trading funds: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the UK Hydrographic…
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Ownership of commercial businesses is publicly declared in the MoDs Annual Reports and Accounts [1]. The details of their operations and finances are transparent,…
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Military-owned Businesses
Q32
75/100
Are military-owned businesses subject to transparent independent scrutiny at a recognised international standard?
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The financial statements of the MoD’s two trading funds, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) are audited by…
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Audit reports are available in the Annual Reports and Accounts of both the DSTL and the UKHO [1, 2]. However, the reports are presented…
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Illegal Private Enterprise
Q33
88/100
Is there evidence of unauthorised private enterprise by military or other defence ministry employees? If so, what is the government’s reaction to such enterprise?
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According to one of the interviewees, the issue of unauthorised private enterprise is covered under administrative regulations and for both Service and civilian employees,…
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A review of media sources, the Parliament Defence Select Committee, Hansard, as well as an interview, indicate that there is no evidence of unauthorised…
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Actual Military Spending
Q77
100/100
Is comprehensive data on actual spending on defence published during the budget year?
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The Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts publishes details of actual spending on defence and security proactively and in disaggregated form [1] They…
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Actual defence spending is fully disclosed [1]. There is clear and robust oversight of the full budget by other suitable authorities, such as the…
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The Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20 was published in October 2020, seven months after the end of the financial year, due…
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The Annual Report and Accounts contains explanations of variances between the out-turn and the monies voted on by Parliament through the Estimates process. The…
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