Affordability of the Defence Investment Plan

The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that defence spending (which may include some spending by other government departments) would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027-28. The 2.5% figure means that £6.4bn more will be spent in 2027-28 than if spending had remained at past levels (the UK spent 2.3% of GDP on defence … Show more

The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that defence spending (which may include some spending by other government departments) would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027-28. The 2.5% figure means that £6.4bn more will be spent in 2027-28 than if spending had remained at past levels (the UK spent 2.3% of GDP on defence in 2023.) Government’s ambition is for spending to rise to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament. In June 2025, the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) announced that a new Defence Investment Plan, replacing the Equipment Plan, would lay out how the SDR’s vision would be delivered. In the most recent defence Equipment Plan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) expected overall costs to exceed its own budget by £42.5bn over the ten years to 2033. Equipment costs made up £16.9bn of this. Spending at 2.5% of GDP in 2027-28 will represent £13.4bn more than was spent in 2024-25. In its June 2025 report on the future of the Equipment Plan, the PAC voiced its extreme disappointment that the MoD had been continuing to fail to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny of how it would manage its funding for military equipment - historically carried out through an annual Equipment Plan, which unacceptably MoD had been refusing to publish since November ’22. In 2026, the National Audit Office (NAO) will publish its report assessing whether MoD’s capability, goals and commitments are realistic and deliverable within its forecasted budgets. Proceeding from the NAO’s findings, the PAC will take evidence from senior MoD officials as it scrutinises the affordability of the MoD’s investment plan. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 9 March 2026. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The Committee decides what information to publish and how. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is for the Committee to say whether it will agree.It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues. Show less