Defence Equipment and Support
Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation, under the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support. DE&S initially had a civilian and military workforce of around 29,000 (77 per cent civilian and 23 per cent military), in the UK and abroad. The organisation operates as a single Top Level Budget. As of 2008, the DE&S workforce was around 24,500, further reducing  under the 'PACE' business improvement programme to around 21,000 by 2012. Of this, around 8,000 posts have been housed at MoD Abbey Wood since 2012. History. Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April 2007. It is overseen by the Minister of State for Defence Procurement. The organisation supports Strategic Command and the individual armed services through Navy Command, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Air Command. Strategic governance. Defence Equipment and Support Board. Includes: Mark Russell was to become chairman in November 2019. The Board provides strategic governance for DE&S and a robust forum for independent, non-executive support and  constructive challenge to the Chief Executive and the Executive Committee. The DE&S Board delegates some activities to sub-committees of the Board, namely the Audit, Remuneration, Programme Review and Nomination Committees. The Chairman ensures that the Board receives feedback on these sub-Committees and that it is able to consider their recommendations. Direction and oversight. Executive Committee Defence Equipment and Support. Includes: DE&S is led on a day-to-day basis by the Executive Committee, which consists of the Chief Executive Officer, Director General Resources as Chief Finance Officer, the Director General Commercial and six Chiefs of Materiel who lead  the delivery of the programme of work in their respective domains. Note: Vice-Admiral Lister is currently on a sabbatical from his Royal Navy career to be Managing Director of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance. Sub Committees. Includes: The following subordinate Committees provide specialised support to the Executive Committee. Administration of DE&S and senior leadership. The organisation has been under the leadership of a civilian Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support since 2015. After the restructuring in 2011 there are four three-star posts under the Chief of Defence Materiel. These are the positions of Chief of Materiel (Fleet ), a Royal Navy Vice Admiral, and Chief of Materiel (Land), a British Army Lieutenant General (who also holds the appointment of Quartermaster-General to the Forces), Chief of Materiel (Air), a Royal Air Force Air Marshal, and Chief of Materiel (Joint Enablers). The latest DE&S organisation chart indicates that the various Chief of Materiels have been re-titled as 'Director General'. Director General for Air/Army/Navy/Strategic Enablers/Commercial/Resources. The Chiefs of Materiel (CofMs), now Director Generals (DGs), are responsible for managing key relationships with the Capability Sponsor and User. They work at the strategic level to make  sure that the operational readiness and sustainability needs of the User are met. The DGs ensure an ethos of support to operations is in place to the User, throughout all DE&S activity. Chief of Materiel (Submarines). This group now is part of the Submarine Delivery Agency. Major projects. DE&S manages a variety of defence procurement and support projects inherited from the DLO and DPA for all three services. Examples of current and future procurement projects include: Boeing P-8A Poseidon MRA Mk1 Main locations. As of 2016 the main locations (with staff numbers) were: Responsibility for 'Logistics, Commodities and Services' (including  storage and delivery of non-weaponry equipment, such as food and clothing, to soldiers) was contracted out to the private sector in 2015 under an arrangement that included the transfer of 1,100 staff and construction of a new 'Defence Fulfilment Centre' at MoD Donnington. Attribution. This article contains text from this source: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526950/DES_Corporate_Plan_201619-20160526.pdf. © Crown copyright, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0