Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 32
32
Rejected
Ringfenced nuclear budget creates unresolved questions about balancing investment with conventional capabilities.
Conclusion
The prioritisation of the DNE has led to government creating a ringfence which prevents the Department from using elsewhere money allocated to delivering the DNE, but which allows money to flow the other way.73 The Department recognises that one of the big capability questions it must answer through the SDR and its follow-on work is the balance of investment between nuclear and conventional capabilities.74 However, it has not yet worked this through.75
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the committee's implicit recommendation for specific DNE financial reporting, stating that DNE financial information is already provided through existing parliamentary processes and will be included in the Defence Investment Plan.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
6.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.2 The annual update to Parliament has never been a vehicle for detailed financial reporting on the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE). The government believes it is better to provide DNE financial information as part of wider MOD financial reporting to avoid any risk of inconsistency or misaligned timing of data. Financial information on the DNE is provided, along with financial information relating to wider defence budgeting and spending, in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts and as part of the Parliamentary Estimates process. It is also expected that financial information will be included in the Defence Investment Plan. 6.3 The government is continuing to consider the recommendations made previously by the Public Accounts Committee for a new committee to be set up to scrutinise DNE expenditure.