16 Oct 14. Defence Committee – FUTURE FORCE 2020, Wednesday 22 October 2014, The Grimond Room, Portcullis House.
Witnesses At 2.00 pm
* General (retired) Graeme Lamb
* Mark Urban, BBC correspondent and military author
At 3.00 pm
* Professor Paul Cornish, Exeter University
* Professor Philip Sabin, King’s College, London
* Peter Roberts, RUSI
This is the first session for this inquiry. On 2 July 2014 the Defence Committee announced a new inquiry into Future Force 2020. This followed the Committee’s earlier work looking at the Future Army 2020. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review set out the Government’s plans for the Armed Forces called Future Force 2020. The Committee is particularly concerned about the relevance, size and quality of the Armed Forces.
The Committee is particularly interested in examining.
* The impact on the plans for Future Force 2020 of the challenging global political and security context, including in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa and the changing size, structures and priorities of other international forces including those of the UK’s usual allies.
* Whether the implementation of Future Force 2020 will provide the flexible, agile and operationally capable force required
* The impact of the Levene Reforms on the Armed Forces, in particular, how the Joint Forces Command (JFC) will operate with the other three Services on operations and in providing contingent capability and the effect of the delegation of budgets to the three Services and JFC for equipment and other expenditure.
* The costs of the reforms.