Testing the boundaries of public private partnership: the privatisation of the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

This paper presents a case study of the recent changes that have occurred in the UK government defence research laboratories and the Public Private Partnership process that has created the part-private QinetiQ. This represents a major shift in the UK defence R&D system and the relationship between those defence technological capabilities that reside within QinetiQ and the principal customer for those capabilities (the Ministry of Defence). In addition, the changes have potentially profound implications for the quality of defence-related scientific and technological advice provided to the government as well as that which supports the UK's defence and aerospace industry. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.