Recommendation 29

At the end of our evidence session, we asked the Department to write to us setting out a satisfactory and precise methodology for providing Parliament with an update on its spending plans at least once a year.62 The Permanent Secretary has since written to us, but yet again he has failed to address our concerns. Instead, the letter contained platitudes regarding the Department’s commitment to report to Parliament annually to provide opportunities for regular scrutiny, but was vague about how the Department would do this.63 The recently published SDR says that the Department will develop a new ten-year Defence Investment Plan, which will be completed in autumn 2025. While the SDR says this will supersede the Equipment Plan, the ongoing lack of details means we cannot judge how adequate a replacement this might be. The rising cost of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (the DNE)