Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR)

The Government is conducting a cross-Government, policy-based, resource-aware SDSR. The SDSR goes wider than previous reviews, such as the 1998 SDR which looked only at the work of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces.

The National Security Council are overseeing the SDSR which will guide the work of all the departments concerned with security. It will look at, for example, our diplomatic network, the intelligence agencies, security elements of the Home Office's work, such as counter-terrorism, and the UK's support for international development where it is also contributing to international security and stability.

The SDSR is being led by the Cabinet Office and is intended to provide a coherent approach to security and defence across government. It will ensure all our efforts are aligned and consistent.

The SDSR will be based on a new National Security Strategy (NSS) currently being developed. The strategy will define the UK's interests - for example in security and prosperity - and consider the international and domestic threats to those interests. It will then set the UK's priorities in addressing those threats, and implications for our organisation and capabilities across government.

Preparation of the new National Security Strategy will effectively be the first step towards a coherent, well-founded SDSR. Discussions on the NSS are already well-advanced.

For the MOD, the NSS and SDSR will ensure that the resources for our Armed Force are matched to our foreign policy requirements so that they have what they need to do what we ask of them, and that the Defence Budget is spent as efficiently, effectively and economically as possible.

The Defence Secretary is clear that the SDSR is an opportunity for radical thinking. All defence programmes will need to demonstrate their relevance and value for money. There will inevitably be reductions in some areas in order to enhance others.

The review will report in the autumn, coinciding with the outcome of the Spending Review.