Recommendation 7

The Department said that the needs of the reserves would be considered in the defence investment plan it would be developing over the summer of 2025, which would confirm the sequencing of the priorities identified in the SDR. However, the Department recognised that it needed to make some investments in support of the reserves this Parliament.9 A key priority 5 Q 2; C&AG’s Report, para 4 6 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.2 and 1.3 7 Qq 2 and 4; C&AG’s Report, para 1.5; Ministry of Defence, Strategic Defence Review – Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, 2025, Part 4.3 para 5 and Recommendation 14. 8 Qq 43 and 59 9 Qq 1, 15 and 44 9 for the Department was reinvigorating its relationship with the Strategic Reserve of ex-regular personnel who have a liability to be recalled into the armed forces. This would require the Department to establish a digital solution by early 2027 to improve reserves’ management, which the Department noted was a tight timescale to meet.10