Currently, 36 Royal Navy ratings are being trained as HGV drivers in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan with three Commando Brigade Royal Marines later this year.
The MOD has requested £1.649 billion from the Treasury Reserve to cover the net additional costs of operations in Afghanistan for 2007-08. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Budget speech that we expect to spend over £2 billion supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008-09. The highly changeable nature of operations means that we are not able to provide an accurate forecast for Afghanistan alone nor any indication of cost for 2009-10.
The success of British military operations in Afghanistan (for which the net additional cost is funded from the Treasury Reserve), is judged against military strategic objectives set by the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Progress is reported quarterly by the relevant commander through the Department's formal performance management process (the Defence Balanced Scorecard), which includes endorsement by the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Commitments). The Balanced Scorecard is reviewed by the Defence Board. The Defence Board's conclusions are submitted to Ministers and reflected in the Department's quarterly published public service agreement (PSA) reports and in the departmental annual report and accounts.
As part of its review of Departments' SR04 PSA reporting systems, the National Audit Office concluded that the MOD's data system is fit for the purpose of measuring and reporting performance against this target and that it found no weaknesses in the quality of disclosure of Ministry of Defence public performance reports.