Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted
Paragraph: 94
The Government should publish the actions agreed by each of the Departments as a result...
Recommendation
The Government should publish the actions agreed by each of the Departments as a result of the lessons learned exercises which examined the response to the Afghanistan crisis, together with a time frame for implementation.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states that it already outlined the lessons learned and exercises undertaken following the withdrawal from Afghanistan in its Official Response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report, published 29 July 2022, and the MOD publicly outlined its position to the Defence Committee.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
94
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
We note the Committee’s recommendation. The Government outlined the lessons learned and exercises undertaken following the withdrawal from Afghanistan in its Official Response to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s report into the withdrawal from Afghanistan, published 29 July 2022. Specifically, the MOD, including the Defence Secretary, also outlined its position publicly to the Defence Committee as part of its inquiry into the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Conclusion/recommendation 19 We welcome the uplift to the MOD’s budget in 2020 and the four-year budget commitment. However, inflationary pressures and an increase in the scale of threat means that it is no longer enough. At the same time, serious concerns persist around a number of procurement programmes. The Department now needs a strategy to regain both Parliament’s and the public’s trust in its procurement abilities. We are concerned that a real terms fall in sustainment funding (RDEL) up to 2024–25 will erode the Armed Forces’ ability to maintain and train on military equipment. We recommend a further, long-term increase to the budget but the MOD must ensure that money is not wasted.
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