Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Inconsistent MoD planning approaches undermine transparency and parliamentary scrutiny of equipment affordability.
Recommendation
This flexibility means that users of the Plan, including Parliament, cannot compare Commands and other budget holders on a like-for-like basis.29 The MoD assured us that its ability to understand the Armed Forces’ capability and operational risks was unaffected by budget holders using different approaches to costing.30 However, as the Minister of State for Defence said in the House of Lords on 7 December 2023: “I have looked at budgets for the last 40 years and I have never seen a budget that resembles anything like this one, and that is not just the absolute figures. The way in which it is constructed means that it is very difficult to get to exactly the way in which the money moves around”.31 We are similarly puzzled about how the Plan can be allowed to contain such inconsistent approaches.32 The MoD conceded that this was not the most transparent part of its planning process, and that a Plan compiled on a consistent basis would clearly be easier to interpret.33 The MoD confirmed that it was happy to accept the NAO’s recommendation that the Plan should be prepared on a more consistent basis, and also conceded that the current approach made it difficult for us to hold the MoD to account.34 Funding the Defence Nuclear Enterprise
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to standardizing the data produced and presented for the Equipment Plan from the Annual Budgeting Cycle planning round process, with a target implementation date of Spring 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2025 2.2 All Top-Level Budget Holders (TLBs) already operate within the same standardised financial planning processes. The department’s operating model, where responsibility for managing the equipment plan is delegated to TLBs, acknowledges that they have different financial positions and carry a balance between capability and financial risk. 2.3 For transparency and for ease of comparison, the department will seek to standardise the data that is produced and how it is presented for the Equipment Plan from the Annual Budgeting Cycle planning round process.