Qinetiq refutes PAC accusations

Qinetiq said it strongly refuted any accusation that members of its senior management team acted inappropriately and without integrity during the transformation from a Government agency into a public limited company. It said the Qinetiq management team were specifically selected and appointed by the Government with a mandate to commercialise the Ministry of Defence research laboratories. The eventual decision, five years later, to float the company was never advocated by the Qinetiq and was taken by the MOD, Qinetiq said. The incentive scheme that was put in place for employees and has resulted in the criticism that magnitude of personal gains were at the ultimate expense of taxpayers, was typical of such transactions, it went on. The company said the taxpayer had received approximately £1 billion worth of value from Qinetiq, an organisation that was previously considered a substantial financial liability. MOD continued to hold a 19% shareholding in the company and would continue to benefit from its future success.