Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Provide multi-year funding and transparent cost information for the GCAP programme.
Recommendation
With the defence budget under increasing pressure, it is incumbent on both Government and industry to keep tight control of costs as GCAP progresses. As more detailed information on programme costs becomes available, it must be made available to Parliament and the public in a timely and transparent manner to enable effective scrutiny. The Government should consider providing a multi-year funding arrangement to put the programme on a secure footing and provide international partners with confidence in the UK’s ongoing commitment. (Recommendation, Paragraph 47)
Government Response Summary
The government commits to transparency and updating Parliament on programme delivery, acknowledges the need for tight cost control and is actively pursuing means to manage costs, but does not address the multi-year funding arrangement.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department welcomes the opportunity to update Parliament on delivery of the programme and is committed to transparency to support proper scrutiny. We take seriously considerations around how to deliver the programme in the most cost-effective and efficient manner and thank the Committee for its recommendation. All international partners are committed to the delivery of the programme, as has been reflected through Ministerial announcements made by each, and we will actively sustain this confidence as the programme progresses. The Committee is right to highlight the need to proactively manage costs. This is a ground-breaking programme that is in the latter part of the Concept and Assessment Phase, during which we are defining the capabilities we require through rigorous assessment of future military requirements, technologies, and realistic costs and schedules to deliver them. The programme is being delivered through a new international construct involving a wide range of industry partners with diverse supply chains. We recognise the scale of the challenge and are actively pursuing means to manage costs, including de-risking the programme through early investment in R&D and skills generation, delivering at a faster pace than previous programmes, and maintaining a culture of greater transparency between Government and industry partners. Prioritisation of time, and a commitment to incremental capability development, will help the programme deliver the capabilities required against the schedule.