§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress they have made in defining and developing the role of senior responsible owner in respect of defence capabilities and projects. [HL9]
§ Lord BachThe Ministry of Defence follows Office of Government Commerce best practice and guidance. In addition, we are currently developing draft senior responsible owner guidance for use throughout defence. Our guidance will cover the "need", "purpose", "accountability", "appointment" and "selection/ development/training" of senior responsible owners in defence.
§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What resources are being made available to designated senior responsible owners within the Ministry of Defence to ensure that they can effectively participate in the direct managerial and budgetary control of the projects which they own and for which they are responsible. [HL10]
§ Lord BachAppropriate resources are made available to senior responsible owners (SROs) to enable them to deliver the programme and benefits for which they are responsible. SROs do not require direct managerial budgetary control for their programmes because their role is to provide a single clear focus of accountability. Ultimately, an SRO acts with the full authority of, and on behalf of, the defence management board and is therefore fully empowered in order that he or she can deliver the programme and its benefits. Management of work within the individual TLB area or in each line of development remains the responsibility of the top-level budget holders, who are of course, also accountable to the defence management board.