Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 6
Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033
Published 8 Mar 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee The Equipment Plan 2023–2033 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The MoD is becoming increasingly reliant on the UK’s allies to protect the UK’s national interests, which carries the risk that such support might not always be available. Recent international developments, including the war in Ukraine, have reinforced the importance of strategic international partnerships for the UK. The UK has been working with its allies, including Ukraine, to develop interoperable equipment, pool essential munitions and encourage industry to build its capacity to supply the necessary equipment. However, for deterrence to be effective the UK’s Armed Forces must be credible. Such credibility is undermined by widely reported recruitment and retention issues, with more people leaving the Armed Forces than are being recruited, the mothballing of Royal Navy ships because of crew shortages, and the unavailability this year of the only Royal Navy ship able to fully replenish the UK’s aircraft carriers because of a refit. Given the changing global security picture, it is vital for the MoD to work with industry, including through the Defence Suppliers Forum, and also the higher education sector to ensure sufficient supply of highly skilled workers and also apprentices to the defence sector. With the support of its allies, the UK’s Armed Forces continue to fulfil a crucial role internationally. However, many allies are facing similar challenges to the UK, which might affect their ability and willingness to continue providing extensive support. Recommendation 6: The MoD should assess the extent to which its capability requirements are reliant on support from the UK’s allies and develop mitigations for how it would manage the risk of allied support being curtailed or withdrawn. 8 MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033 1 The affordability of the Equipment Plan
From: Public Accounts Committee, Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033 (HC 451), 8 March 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 May 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendations on consistent forecast costing, clearer signals to industry, assessing the new procurement model and reliance on allies, but disagrees with those on setting out cuts under a 2.5% shortfall and on reporting nuclear funding trends.
- On the 2.5% of GDP aspiration, the government disagrees with the recommendation; the department "does not intend to set out a list of capabilities that would be cut" because this would risk operational security and industry confidence.
- On nuclear costs, the government disagrees with the recommendation. If conventional budgets are affected by nuclear funding needs the department "will make that clear", but it considers going further "wholly speculative".
- The government agrees that all budget holders should treat forecast costs consistently, with a target implementation date of Spring 2025. The department "will seek to standardise" the data and its presentation.
- The government agrees to assess the impact of the Integrated Procurement Model, with a target date of December 2024. It will "monitor the increase in pace of delivery and provide updates as appropriate".