Select committee: Defence Committee
Conclusion 133
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)
In order to ensure that Defence can replenish and increase stockpiles of munitions, spares and operational supplies, the DCP23 recognises that industry needs to have robust and resilient supply chains which have assured access to “key materials, components and 263 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 37–8 264 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 39 265 Oral evidence taken on 12 December 2023, HC (2023–24) 54, Q60–2 266 Oral evidence taken on 12 December 2023, HC (2023–24) 54, Q115 267 Oral evidence taken before the Public Accounts Committee on 22 January 2024, HC (2023–24) 451, Q83 268 Q406 269 Ministry of Defence, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, Cm 901, July 2023, p 40 50 Ready for War? critical technologies”. A joint assessment of industrial capability, capacity, and sustainment will be undertaken along with communications on sovereign requirements (including what needs to be ‘onshore’ and what can be ‘friendshored’) and engagement on how to incentivise industry to prioritise national security needs over commercial ones.270 In November 2023, we were told that the MOD was launching a supply chain strategy which would identify (as part of the increasing defence outputs programme) where those supply chain pinch points are and ensure that the Department is “being proactive around them”.271
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.