The GEMS Scheme launched in 1996, benefits from the full support of the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Permanent Secretary, as a means of promoting staff initiative and improving efficiency throughout the MOD and the Armed Forces. GEMS supports the Defence Vision requirement for us to be first class in the way we lead and manage the business of defence.
The operation of the GEMS Scheme is overseen by the GEMS Scheme Team, based in MOD Main Building, Whitehall, London and administered through a network of Award Groups, which are located at most MOD sites in the UK and overseas.
The scheme is designed to capture any suggestion that satisfies one or more of the following:
- Achieving greater efficiency or savings to the MOD
- Improving opertional effectiveness
- Raising quality
- Improving the design, use or maintenance of equipment
- Improving health and safety
- Benefiting the environment (including Sustainable Procurement), and
- Removing unecessary bureaucracy
All individuals submitting suggestions have direct access to the GEMS Scheme without the need to consult their line manager.
The GEMS Scheme is not a substitute for reporting shortcomings in material, design or procedure, which should be made through the normal administrative channels.
Further guidance and information on the GEMS scheme can be obtained through the "Related pages" links shown on this right of this page.