Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 4
51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fighter capability
Published 31 Oct 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee The UK’s F-35 stealth fighter capability All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Accommodation at RAF Marham is substandard, exacerbating issues with recruitment and retention. Despite the urgent need to address this, upgrades will not be completed under current plans until 2034. RAF Marham has been the main F-35 operating base since 2013, with at least 1,500 people working there on the F-35, many of whom also live in accommodation at the base. The Department accepts that accommodation at RAF Marham is not good enough and that these failings create a risk that people leave the service earlier than they otherwise would. The Department 3 has committed to removing all the worst grades of accommodation, which includes most of the accommodation at RAF Marham, from its sites. But it does not expect to complete this work at RAF Marham until 2034, albeit with some personnel expected to move into the first new block by the end of 2025. The Department claims that earlier investment was not possible because of the need for savings, and that upgrading accommodation at RAF Lossiemouth has been the higher priority. The 2034 date for relatively simple service accommodation construction is very complacent and should be given greater priority. recommendation The Department should urgently look to prioritise investment to bring forward completion of improvements to RAF Marham accommodation on a much earlier timescale than 2034. It should write to the Committee within 6 months as to how it intends to do this.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 51st Report - The UK’s F-35 stealth fighter capability (HC 1232), 31 October 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-first Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 31 December 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-first report from Session 2024-26
Published 19 January 2026.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with most of the Committee's recommendations on the F-35, disagreeing on a F-35-specific workforce plan and on updating the Committee on Dual Capable Aircraft costs.
- On Full Operating Capability, the government agrees that criteria should take account of capability gaps and sustainment, with a target implementation date of November 2026.
- It agrees to write to the Committee by 30 April 2026 on increasing F-35 availability, saying the longer timeline is needed to draw on lessons from Carrier Strike Group 25.
- It disagrees with producing an F-35-specific recruitment and retention plan and will instead address the issue through the "ongoing RAF People Campaign".
- On RAF Marham accommodation, it will write by 31 May 2026 to advise "whether" the current timescale can be brought forward, after infrastructure requirements are reassessed following the Defence Investment Plan.