16 Sep 14. NEW INQUIRY: DECISION-MAKING IN DEFENCE POLICY. The Defence Committee announced its new inquiry into Decision-making in Defence Policy. The Committee announced its latest inquiry, exploring the relationship between Ministers, the military and civil servants in making decisions in defence. The Committee is looking to take evidence to address the following questions:
* What are the processes for decision-making in defence policy? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these processes?
* How is the relationship between Ministers and their advisers, the military and civil servants defined?
* How have processes for decision-making and the relationship between Ministers and their advisers, the military and civil servants changed over the last 10 years?
* Is there a case for codifying the relationship?
* What pressures have been placed on this relationship in the last 10 years by changes in the Government’s relations with the media?
* What effect has the House of Commons vote on intervention in Syria had on this relationship?
* Who makes the decisions on the deployment of UK troops on combat and other operations?
Written submissions
The Committee would welcome written evidence to this inquiry. The deadline for submissions is Monday 27 October 2014.
Where to submit your written evidence
Written submissions for this inquiry should be submitted via the inquiry page on the Defence Committee website.
As a guideline submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. ‘Written evidence submitted by xxxx’ and be no longer than 3000 words, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this.
Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not PDFs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.
Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence. The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.