Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 17
Fiftieth Report - Defence Equipment Plan 2020–2030
Published 16 Mar 2021
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Defence Equipment Plan 2020-2030 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
In November 2020, the government announced that it would provide an additional £16.5 billion of funding over the next four years, which represents a 10% increase in the defence budget over this period.45 The Department said that HM Treasury has given it a planning assumption that its budget will grow in real terms by 0.5% per year for the subsequent six years and, as a consequence, it estimated that the Spending Review settlement would result in over £30 billion of additional funding over the next 10 years.46 The government intends that this funding will allow the Department to modernise and invest in new technologies, including its cyber and space capabilities. The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (the Integrated Review) will set out the strategic decisions on future capabilities that are needed to support the defence and security policy.47
From: Public Accounts Committee, Fiftieth Report - Defence Equipment Plan 2020–2030 (HC 693), 16 March 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 31 August 2021 (deadline 16 May 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations that are set out in the response, each with a stated target implementation date, and sets out related work already under way.
- On affordability, it agrees that the next Equipment Plan report must demonstrate affordability, and says that report (Autumn 2021) will set out the implications of the 2020 Spending Review settlement and the Integrated Review.
- On transparency over the additional funding, it agrees and says it "will write to the Committee before summer recess" with a summary of investment and savings decisions, with a target date of June 2021.
- On defence cost inflation, it agrees and says it will write to the Committee alongside the Autumn 2021 Equipment Plan report, and states it "is committed to changing attitudes and behaviours within the Defence acquisition system".
- On finance capability, it agrees with a target date of March 2023, noting that "It takes time to both train and recruit professionally qualified staff, but numbers will increase over time."