Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Paragraph: 31
Ministry of Defence transparency has significantly decreased over past decade
Conclusion
The protection of sensitive information plays a vital role in the security of this country. However, the Ministry of Defence has become demonstrably less transparent over the past decade. The fact that the Minister and senior military personnel did not realise that information which is now classified was once widely available suggests that this trend towards greater secrecy has been either clandestine or unconscious. Other nations, facing very similar threats, provide significantly more information about readiness than the UK, both to the public and to relevant parliamentary committees.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for greater transparency regarding planning assumptions and readiness, immediately releasing 'headlines' from current Defence Planning Assumptions (DPA23) and committing to release as much information as possible from the next iteration.
Paragraph Reference:
31
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Today’s Defence Planning Assumptions (DPAs) are not only a description of the current Force capacity; they also look forward to describe the assumed demand on the Force over a 10-year period and the resultant development of it. Given that context, preserving some strategic ambiguity in our planning is an advantage, given an increase in sophisticated state threats. There has not been a decision to withhold information, but the form and function of that information has evolved over the years, and classified DPAs have always existed, whereby the totality has not been released publicly. However, the government recognises that the Committee should have public access to more information on planning assumptions and readiness than is currently provided. Therefore, the following headlines from current DPAs are released below. We commit to release as much as possible of the next iteration of DPAs when national and NATO planning processes have matured. Releasable Detail from DPA23 4 x Military Outputs: