Army sat on file alleging Israeli defence firm broke rules
The British Army sat on a file that accused a major defence firm of breaching business appointment rules for seven months without carrying out an investigation, the Ministry of Defence has been forced to admit.
The Times understands the army was handed a dossier concerning the activities of Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, and its bid for a £2 billion contract to overhaul army training in February.
A long-delayed response to a freedom of information (FoI) request has revealed the army failed to look at the claims until The Times approached the MoD in August with details of the dossier. Insiders have blamed the long delay on an “administrative oversight”.
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A month later, in September, a senior civil servant carried out an “assurance review” and found no business appointment rules had been breached, it can be disclosed for the first time.
Elbit UK’s participation in the bid continued and a decision will be made next year on whether to hand the contract to an Elbit Systems UK-led consortium or its rival consortium, led by the US firm Raytheon. Another option is to start the process again and find a British firm to lead the way or deliver the training internally.
MoD sources were previously unable to confirm the army had assessed whether the rules had been broken amid a chaotic response to the allegations.
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The whistleblower alleged the MoD’s business appointment rules were breached when a former brigadier allegedly shared information with Elbit Systems UK after he left the army.
The dossier alleged that Philip Kimber attended key meetings at Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of the Israeli defence company Elbit Systems, about the training contract after he left the army.
At one point Kimber joined an Elbit Systems UK meeting to discuss how to win the training contract that he had led when he was at the MoD, sitting out of view of a camera and declaring he “should not be there”, the whistleblower claimed.
It also emerged that a senior civil servant was dined by Elbit Systems UK seven times but had no lunches or dinners with the key rival as he prepared to consider their competing bids. Mike Cooper, who has a rank equivalent to a two-star officer, also travelled to Jerusalem with two senior British military officers and had a sightseeing tour funded by Elbit Systems, the parent company.
Cooper is the senior responsible owner at army headquarters for the Collective Training Transformation Programme (CTTP), which is the army training programme. There was no suggestion he broke any rules.
Mark Francois, shadow armed forces minister, said: “The army needs to be fully transparent regarding the conduct of the competition for its new major multi-billion pound training contract.”
The Times first submitted an FoI request in August this year asking for the findings by the army into the whistleblower’s allegations. After months of delays the army responded on December 2. It said: “Whilst it is not MoD policy to comment on claims from whistleblowers, I can confirm that MoD does not hold any findings on an investigation into whether Elbit breached MoD business appointment rules with regards to the British Army’s CTTP contract.
“To be helpful under Section 16 (Advice and Assistance) I can advise that since your original request, the director of resources, army, has carried out an assurance review into an alleged breach of business appointment rules.”
The army said: “The procurement of the CTTP remains ongoing. It would be inappropriate to comment on any speculation regarding potential outcomes.”
Elbit Systems UK said: “Elbit Systems UK adheres to all requirements and procedures advised by the relevant bodies regarding our employees who have served in the UK armed forces.”