Dstl was formed from the July 2001 split of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. Dstl was established to carry out and retain the science and technology work that is best done within government, while the majority of DERA's activities and that suitable for industry was transferred to Qinetiq, a wholly owned government company before being floated on the stock exchange. Dstl absorbed the Home Office's Centre for Applied Science and Technology in April 2018, taking on CAST's role to apply science and technology to support the Home Office's operations and frontline delivery, provision of evidence to support policy, and provide certain regulatory functions. Dstl existed as a Trading Fund of the MOD from its formation in 2001 until 2016, when it became an Executive Agency of the MOD.
Organisation
Dstl is an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. Most funding comes from the MOD, while a small portion comes from other government departments and commercial sources. According to 2016/17 figures, 91% of Dstl's £587m income came from the MOD. In 2015 Dstl completed a major reorganisation, merging twelve operating departments into five divisions on 1 April 2015. The motivation behind this change was to enable more coherent and productive delivery to customers and simplify access routes for suppliers.
Dr Frances Saunders : took over as acting Chief Executive in May 2006 and was appointed as Chief Executive in August 2007. On 29 June 2011, Saunders announced to staff that her post had been advertised and that she would not be applying.
Jonathan Lyle : formerly Director of the Programme Office at Dstl, placed into an acting role and was appointed in March 2012.
Gary Aitkenhead : in September 2017, David Marsh – Capability & Delivery Director – was appointed acting Chief Executive. On 30 November 2017, Gary Aitkenhead was appointed and took up the role in January 2018.
Operations
Dstl carries out a broad range of work from high-level analysis to support Ministry of Defence policy and procurement decisions, to technical research in defence areas such as biomedical science and electronics, alongside operational work such as forensic analysis of explosives and providing paid volunteer scientists to Iraq and Afghanistan to provide rapid scientific advice to British forces. It has done work for around 40 government departments and agencies including the Home Office and Department for Transport. It undertakes research with both industry and academia to achieve its role. Following a review and consultation process initiated by MOD's Chief Scientific Advisor, it became responsible for the formulation and commission of MOD's non-nuclear research programme from 1 Apr 2010, under the responsibility of the Dstl Programme Office. Within the Programme Office were 16 domains with some established as Science and Technology Centres, including Armour and Protection, Cyber and Influence, Counter Terrorism, and CBR. These centres funded research via the Centre for Defence Enterprise, also part of the Programme Office. A subsequent MOD CSA-led review in 2015 into MOD's science and technology capability recommended that the commissioning of science and technology should be independent of the delivery. Following this, the commissioning role was moved to Defence Science and Technology within MOD Head Office, with Dstl focusing on delivery. Within the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was a proposal to create "a government-backed service designed to help small and medium-sized businesses bring new ideas to market more quickly". In 2016, it was announced by Defence SecretaryMichael Fallon that this 'Defence and Security Accelerator' would have access to an £800m innovation fund and build on the 'Centre for Defence Enterprise' model, operating within Dstl. In 2017, Dstl began a five-year programme of innovation in space science.
The functions of the two former CAST sites – Sandridge and Langhurst – will be transferred to Dstl's core sites of Porton Down and Portsdown West by 2020. Sections of 150-millimetre-thick pre-atomic steel plate uncontaminated with radionuclides, recovered from HMS Vanguard, were used for the shielding of the whole body monitor at the Radiobiological Research Laboratory at Alverstoke, Gosport, Hampshire.
Spin-offs
Ploughshare Innovations
In April 2005 the technology transfer company Ploughshare Innovations Ltd was formed to manage and exploit intellectual property within Dstl. Dstl and Ploughshare Innovations have successfully spun-out several new companies including Alaska Food Diagnostics and P2i Ltd.
