Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 3
32nd Report - The Future of the Equipment Plan
Published 20 Jun 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee The Future of the Equipment Plan All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department’s defence reform programme sets out ambitious plans for improving defence procurement, but it is unclear how long it will take for these benefits to become fully embedded. In April 2025 the Department reorganised itself into four areas–the Department of State, a Military Strategic Headquarters, a National Armaments Director (NAD) Group and Defence Nuclear. The Department anticipates that the NAD will have significantly more control over the end-to-end acquisition process than the old structure provided. The Department is building on reforms begun under the previous government to speed up procurement: it aspires to reduce by two-thirds the time to award a contract to a two-year maximum, and to complete most programmes in under five years. The Department anticipates it can achieve this by involving industry in the process much earlier and reducing the overspecification of requirements. Instead of the Department developing a firm requirement then going to industry, it will state what the military capability problem is, and the NAD Group will seek solutions from industry. The Department expects this approach will increase defence exports, as industry will be able to design products that also work for the expanding international market. However, 2025–26 is a transitional year, and the new approach will take several years to reduce average times, primarily owing to legacy programmes which had started before April 2025. recommendation The Department should provide the Committee with an evidence-based update by the end of June 2026 which demonstrates how defence procurement has improved in the first year that the National Armaments Director Group has operated, including key performance indicators.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 32nd Report - The Future of the Equipment Plan (HC 716), 20 June 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-second Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 20 August 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-second report from Session 2024-26
Published 16 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with five of the Committee's recommendations on Ukraine support, procurement reform, the Strategic Defence Review and annual reporting, and disagrees with the recommendation on detailed Defence Nuclear Enterprise cost reporting in the annual update.
- On Ukraine, the government agrees with the recommendation and states that the department will support Ukraine "for as long as it takes", expecting to provide £4.5 billion in capability support this financial year.
- It agrees to update the Committee by June 2026 on procurement lessons from Ukraine and on how procurement has improved under the National Armaments Director Group, with a target to agree key performance indicators "within the next three months".
- It agrees to turn the Strategic Defence Review into a Defence Investment Plan, to be published in the autumn, which the department "will ensure" is affordable, and says it will provide updates "as requested by the Committee".
- It disagrees on Defence Nuclear Enterprise reporting, saying it is "better" to provide the financial information within wider MOD financial reporting, and is "continuing to consider" an earlier proposal for a new scrutiny committee.