Defence
About Defence
GEMS – The Defence Ideas Scheme
GEMS is the MOD-wide staff suggestion scheme that recognises and rewards ideas which are put into practice. The GEMS scheme encourages all MOD civilian and Armed Forces personnel, ex-employees, MOD contractors and their staffs to contribute constructive ideas for improving efficiency and organisation anywhere within the Department, and recognises the value of their contribution.
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 Main Building London, and administered through a network of over 200 Local Award Groups (LAG’s), which are sited 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:
improves the design, use or maintenance of equipment; achieves greater efficiency/operational effectiveness; improves safety or quality; achieves savings for the MOD;
provides greater environmental benefit.
You have direct access to the GEMS Scheme without the need to consult your line manager. However the GEMS Scheme is not a substitute for reporting shortcomings in material, design or procedure, which should be made through the normal administrative channels.
Normal Duty . Your suggestion will not be excluded from the GEMS Scheme simply because it may fall wholly or partly within normal duties, but this aspect will be taken into account when deciding whether your suggestion qualifies for an award and the size of any award.
Further guidance and information on the GEMS scheme can be obtained through the “Related Pages” links shown on this right of this page.
