Recommendation 18

We have repeatedly urged the Department to take the difficult investment decisions needed to develop a balanced investment programme, highlighting missed opportunities to address fundamental weaknesses in its management of the Equipment Plan.48 The Department acknowledged that the lack of certainty over long-term funding had prevented it from taking strategic decisions to address the structural imbalance in the Plan. The Spending Review settlement, announced in November 2020, now gives the Department more certainty of funding over a longer planning horizon and, for the first time in many years, provides it with the opportunity to take strategic decisions around future capabilities. The Department told us that it considered this was a turning point for Defence.49 Drawing on the lessons from the strategic reviews in 2010 and 2015, it intends to develop a coherent and balanced 10-year programme of equipment expenditure.50