Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
Twenty-Third Report - Delivering carrier strike
Published 13 Nov 2020
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Delivering carrier strike All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department’s failure to fund several key supporting capabilities will restrict how it can use the carriers for many years. The operational freedom of a carrier group relies on support ships providing munitions and stores where and when they are needed, and the Department has long understood that it will need three new support ships to provide this. However, in 2019 it cancelled a competition to build the new ships and it has not yet started a new one. In the meantime, the Department must rely on one elderly ship, RFA Fort Victoria, which has limited cargo capacity and is due to go out of service in 2028, to perform this role. Furthermore, it will need to make alternative arrangements to restock the carriers, such as using allies’ international bases, both when this ship undergoes maintenance in 2022 and when it retires. We are also concerned that the Department has not found a solution for other unfunded supporting capabilities since our 2018 report, such as a long-term solution to move people and goods to, from and within a carrier group. In addition, the Department will face other funding pressures as it replaces the ships needed to sustain carrier operations over the next 50 years, such as anti-submarine frigates. Recommendation: The Department should develop a plan setting out the investment required to develop essential supporting capabilities for a carrier strike group. This should include cost-benefit assessments of potential capability enhancements and how to maximise the value of investment to date. It should write to the Committee by June 2021 setting out its planned investment over the next 10 years. 8 Delivering carrier strike 1 Progress to-date
From: Public Accounts Committee, Twenty-Third Report - Delivering carrier strike (HC 684), 13 November 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 4 February 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 recommendation on six of its recommendations (numbered 1 to 6), and disagrees with one part, on the whole life cost of buying more than 48 jets.
- On future ambitions for Carrier Strike, the government agrees; the department says that once the Integrated Review is published it "will evaluate the outcomes in detail to refine its policy ambitions", with any future investments captured in the costed 10-year Equipment Plan.
- On the cost of more than 48 jets, the government disagrees, stating it is "not possible" to expand the costing model beyond 48 aircraft until the Integrated Review results are known and a formal mandate change to the Lightning Programme is issued.
- On Lightning II expenditure, the government agrees, but notes that the private briefing agreed with the Committee for 20 January 2021 "does not meet the recommendation timeline (within one month)".
- On Crowsnest, the government agrees and says a written brief on how it has addressed the late delivery "will be provided to the Committee in February 2021"; full capability is to be achieved in 2023.