Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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
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".