Our governance
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-31)


Under the Secretary of State and Ministers, UK Defence will now be led by a strengthened Department of State, a fully-fledged Military Strategic Headquarters, a new National Armaments Director Group, and the Defence Nuclear Enterprise. Our new leadership “Quad” - the Permanent Secretary, Chief of the Defence Staff, National Armaments Director, and Chief of Defence Nuclear - will ensure that their teams work together across these structures to deliver our key defence departmental outcomes in collaboration. Defence Reform is designed to introduce new integrated ways of working together and making individuals more accountable – the driving principles of the government’s Defence Reform agenda.

To enable these new areas to be set up for success, supporting changes are being made on 31 March 2025 that will drive One Defence ways of working. This includes establishing streamlined enterprise governance under a new look Executive Committee and a reduction in supporting boards – these will only be held at key decision points to ensure decisions are made at pace.

This new model will utilise many of our statutory boards and committees, outlined below. Updates and a full description of the new governance model for Defence will be published on this page in due course.

Defence Council

The Defence Council is a formal body, with almost all of its work conducted by the Defence Board. The Secretary of State is the most senior individual in the Defence Council, which comprises of other Defence ministers, the Permanent Secretary, the Chief of Defence Staff, senior service officers and senior officials who head the armed services and the department’s major corporate functions.

Created by Letters Patent in 1964 it is essential to the legal functioning of the MOD. Via powers of prerogative, it gives the Secretary of State the ability to administer and command the Armed Forces by the Service Boards. The three Service boards (the Admiralty Board, the Army Board and the Air Force Board), which are sub-committees of the Defence Council, meet annually for each service chief to report to the Secretary of State on the health of their respective services.

Defence Board

The Defence Board is chaired by the Secretary of State and is responsible for top level strategic leadership of the Department, focusing on strategy and plans for generating military forces, including financial planning, performance against those plans, and risk. The Defence Board is the highest committee in the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for the full range of defence business, other than the conduct of operations.

The Defence Board is responsible for the Defence Vision, which is: ‘To defend the United Kingdom and its interests, strengthen international peace and stability, and act as a force for good in the world’. In order to achieve this vision the Defence Board is responsible for pursuing 3 high level departmental objectives, namely:
- achieve success in the military tasks we undertake, at home and abroad
- be ready to respond to tasks that might arise
- build for the future
In pursuit of these high level objectives the Defence Board’s core tasks are:
- to help define and articulate the department’s strategic direction, and provide a clear vision and set of values for defence
- to establish the main priorities and defence capabilities needed to achieve the strategy
- to ensure that defence priorities and tasks are appropriately resourced
- to manage corporate performance and resources in-year to achieve the required results
Defence Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

The Defence Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (DARAC) reviews and challenges the Department’s approach to internal control and provides independent advice both to the Defence Board and Permanent Secretary as the Accounting Officer, on the effectiveness of the policies and processes in use. Its main focus is to assure the integrity of financial reporting and effectiveness of risk management. The committee provides assurance that financial reporting, systems, risk and internal controls and processes are designed effectively and are operating as they should. It identifies a small number of activities for deeper dives each year, in support of this process.

Investment Approvals Committee

The Investment Approvals Committee (IAC) acts on behalf of the Defence Board as the senior body in MOD responsible for decisions on major investment proposals. The IAC sets and enforces the policy and guidance for all investment and disinvestment decisions including where decisions are delegated.

The majority of IAC business is conducted through written correspondence but formally meets in person once a month to consider the most challenging cases In-Committee with additional meetings held as required. The Permanent Secretary, as the Accounting Officer, formally chairs the Committee, however this is normally delegated to Director General Finance for all but the most significant or material decisions. The IAC reports to the Defence Board through the Defence Management Group (DMG) and advises Defence Ministers on a course of action.

Executive Committee (ExCo)

ExCo supports the Defence Board and is the main executive board for MOD. ExCo sets strategic direction, supports the Permanent Secretary(s) in their Accounting Officer duties, and advises on risk and performance issues. Its work includes directing Defence Reform activities, managing strategic and spending reviews, developing the Defence Plan, and overseeing the Annual Budgeting Cycle.

Chiefs of Staff Committee

The Chiefs of Staff (COS) Committee is the senior board within the Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ). Chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the committee collectively drive integration and the development and optimisation of the Armed Forces to achieve Defence strategic outcomes. The COS Committee also provides CDS with military advice from the Service Chiefs, informing their role as the Principal Military Advisor to the Secretary of State (SofS) and the Prime Minister.

Defence Safety and Environment Committee

The Defence Safety and Environment Committee (DSEC) is the principal forum within Defence responsible for the governance of health, safety and environmental protection.

The committee brings together all the various parts of Defence at the most senior level to consider issues and risks across the department and to ultimately make Defence safer for our own people, those affected by our activities, and the environment, wherever we are working in the world.

Defence Nuclear Board

The Defence Nuclear Board (DNB) is a sub-group of the Defence Board. It is the most senior board within MOD that deals exclusively with nuclear-related matters. The DNB is chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence and oversees and assures delivery of the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent and the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) that sustains it.

The DNB focuses on the strategic issues shaping the overall health of the Enterprise and ensures that mitigations for short term risks are considered in light of long-term target outcomes. It is guided by analysis of the strategic risks to our nuclear deterrence capability and posture and the planned mitigations, reported progress across the portfolio of Defence Nuclear projects and programmes, and analysis of cross-cutting strategic themes.

MOD annual reports and accounts

MOD annual reports and accounts (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-annual-reports)