Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 120
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)
External to the DCP23 process, the MOD has also been engaged in Exercise AGILE STANCE which is a five-year programme originally set up by General Sir Nick Carter to “up [the UK Armed Forces’] game in terms of what our readiness looked like and be realistic about it” by exercising the Services’ ability to disperse from their bases in order to maintain survivability in the event of an attack. He explained that it was based on a Cold War concept exercise called Active Edge: If you were based on the inner German border, you were at four hours’ notice to move. An exercise called Active Edge tested your ability to leave your barracks, get into a forest and hide yourself. It exercised the ability of RAF squadrons to leave their bases in Germany and go and park themselves on the autobahn, in cover. I wanted to return to a system where we exercised that regularly. For example, Brize Norton, where every single logistic Air Force egg is in the same basket, had to disperse to—I do not know—an airport in Leeds or wherever it might be. Coningsby should be able to empty itself and send the F-35s on to the M1, whatever it may be. It is the same with the Navy getting out of the three big ports we have.239 233 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 88–9 234 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 90 235 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 91 236 Oral evidence taken on 15 November 2023, HC (2023–24) 52, Q10 237 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 87;91 238 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 92 239 Q124 46 Ready for War?
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.