Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 101
First Report - Ready for War?
Published 4 Feb 2024
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee Armed Forces Readiness All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
A further example was presented at our sessions with the Secretary of State and senior MOD officials, when we questioned the utility of a contract to procure the Chinook CH-47. The project had already been delayed and (as a result of that delay and inflationary pressures) had increased in cost.214 However, we also heard that 14 of the 51 Chinooks would be the Extended Range variant and the military advice was that without them, Special Forces would be “unable to prosecute the targets we need to against the adversarial threat. If we wish to prosecute the targets against Government policy today, … operational judgment is that you need that capability.”215 The Permanent Secretary explained that: There was concern in the summer about cost growth in the programme, and how that could be afforded and what the impact would be on other related capabilities, including, conceivably, other helicopter projects. That has a question around whether this is the best deal that we can get, and if it is the best deal that we can get, do we want to carry on with it? As the 210 Q37 211 Q148 212 Q433 213 Q435 214 Oral evidence taken on 12 December 2023, HC (2023–24) 54, Q75 215 Oral evidence taken on 15 November 2023, HC (2023–24) 52, Q21 Ready for War? 41 General said, if we do not carry on with it in the way that we are currently planning, there will be an impact on the range of operations that our armed forces are able to prosecute.216
From: Defence Committee, First Report - Ready for War? (HC 26), 4 February 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 April 2024 (deadline 4 April 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees there is no regular mechanism to scrutinise readiness and offers an annual open session, releases some Defence Planning Assumptions headlines, and sets out its position on stockpiles, recruitment and procurement.
- On transparency, the government "recognises that the Committee should have public access to more information on planning assumptions and readiness" and releases headlines from the 2023 assumptions, committing to release "as much as possible" of the next iteration "when national and NATO planning processes have matured".
- It agrees the response time for the inquiry was slow and "will make every effort to ensure this is not repeated".
- On the £1.95bn from the Spring Budget 2023, it states the money "will be spent in full on measures to address gaps in our capabilities". It says exact stockpile holdings are "not releasable on the grounds of national security".
- On recruitment and retention, it says a formal response to each Haythornthwaite Review recommendation "will be published during 2024", with next steps for delivery and implementation for each.