Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

LAST YEAR, I WELCOMED
Steve Love to the Department
as he took up the
reins of his appointment as
MDPGA Chief Executive and
Chief Constable of the Ministry
of Defence Police. As this Report
describes, his first year has
been eventful and demanding.
The July bombings in London required an immediate surge
of additional armed security to reinforce the protection of the
Whitehall area of the capital, and we were all impressed by
the speed with which the MDPGA responded to this
challenge. The ability of the Agency to respond to events,
without disruption to its standing security role across the
Defence community, is a critical factor in judging its
contribution and they were not found wanting.
The year had already tested the Agency, with events to
mark the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar
in Portsmouth and the unprecedented levels of security
required for the inter-governmental G8 Summit at Gleneagles.
The MDP were heavily involved in both, largely supporting
Home Department Police Forces with their specialist policing
skills.
Indeed, the heavy demands placed on the Agency have
made it necessary to assess the extent to which all the
tasking expected of it right across the Defence community
can be delivered in the same way in the future. Funding
constraints will inevitably require some adjustments, but
there is no doubt that the capability of the MDPGA to deliver
a high quality security service, both armed and unarmed, is
highly valued by the Department. As the Guard Service is
fully integrated into the Agency, and the new Command and
Control incident management system beds in, resources will
be even more efficiently deployed, offering the Department
an increasingly capable service which can only, in the light of
current threat levels, grow in importance.
Nor should we overlook the policing skills which the
Agency can bring to the stewardship of our large procurement
budgets. We are fortunate in the quality and integrity of our
personnel in procurement through whose efforts we deliver
the major battle winning hardware on which our armed forces
depend. But we need to be vigilant in ensuring that we
continue to conduct our procurement in a way which
minimises the risk of fraud or product substitution. Here too
the Force has a vital role to play – in support of our
procurement teams – in deterring such activities.
Internationally, the reputation of the MDP is well
established, not just in Kosovo where they have led the
United Kingdom contribution to the post conflict
reconstruction work spearheaded by the UN, but also in Iraq
where they have been working in very challenging conditions
to assist the development of a national Police Service. There
has been no lack of support from the Agency for the effort of
the Armed Forces in these regions, as they work with
international colleagues to try to improve the infrastructure
of war damaged zones.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE POLICE AND GUARDING AGENCY ANNUAL REPORT
2nd Permanent Under Secretary’s Introduction
Mr Ian Andrews CBE TD
The MDPGA is becoming ever more closely integrated
within the Defence community as security remains a high
priority for many of our key sites in the UK, including those
occupied by US Visiting Forces. I am pleased to report that,
under Steve Love’s leadership, the MDPGA is rising to the
challenge, and I have every confidence that they will continue
to do so.
Ian Andrews
Second Permanent Under Secretary of State
Armed MDP patrols following
the London bombings
7