Inconsistent MoD Budget Forecasting
Inconsistent approaches to cost forecasting among MoD budget holders, leading to unreliable assessments of equipment programme affordability.
Source spread
Where this theme appears
This theme appears across 4 independent accountability sources, so the source mix matters as much as the headline total.
216 committee recs
1 HMICFRS rec
33 NAO recs
5 IMB reports
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Source-grouped records are useful for tracing where a concern came from. Large sections show the 50 strongest matches for that source; counts still show the full theme total.
Select committee recommendations(216)— showing 50 strongest matches
#1 —
Recommendation: On the basis of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s audit of the Ministry of Defence’s (the Department) Annual Report and Accounts 2024–25, we took evidence from the Department to examine why he had qualified those accounts.1
Response Pending
#6 —
Recommendation: The Ministry is still reeling from the long-term consequences of its unrealistic 2015 Spending Review settlement, and bears the financial and human cost of sustained underinvestment. The Ministry admits that its 2015 Spending Review settlement was over-optimistic and fundamentally unbalanced. …
Gov response: 19. Nineteenth Report of Session 2019-21 The Sponsor Body (for the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster) Restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster Introduction from the Committee After over 20 years …
Under Consideration
#9 —
Recommendation: The Permanent Secretary also explained that the Department has had to live with an annual budget cycle and plan its equipment programme without the certainty of funding over a 10-year period. He explained that this was very difficult to manage. …
Gov response: 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 3.2 Alongside the Equipment Plan 2021, the department will write to the Committee, outlining the key principles that will guide future investment …
Under Consideration
#5 —
Recommendation: The Department has not established a reliable and sophisticated approach to estimating the cost of its future equipment programme, including setting realistic efficiency savings. The Department acknowledges the risk of costs escalating on its equipment projects, which are often large, …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 5.2 The next Equipment Plan report will explain the improvements made to assess risk in long-term projects and detail on the department’s …
Under Consideration
#15 — Department manages HS2 via annual funding despite need for long-term profile.
Recommendation: The Department emphasised the need for a long–term spending profile for the completion of HS2, acknowledging to us that agreeing annual budget settlements was really poor for long–term infrastructure delivery.26 20 C&AG’s Report, para 4.6 and 4.7; Department for Transport, …
Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2026 2.2 The Secretary of State has commissioned the CEO of HS2 Ltd to undertake a comprehensive review of the programme, including HS2's …
Not Addressed
#31 — Defence Nuclear Enterprise costs show significant increases, exceeding previous forecasts and budget allocations.
Recommendation: However, costs of the DNE are rising, driven by various factors.69 The Department is seeking to quicken the pace of delivering its nuclear programmes. The Department noted, however, that there is a very strong correlation between speeding up the schedule …
Gov response: 6.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.2 The annual update to Parliament has never been a vehicle for detailed financial reporting on the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE). The government believes it is better …
Not Accepted
#26 — Department did not publish full 2023 Plan, revealing a £16.9 billion budget deficit.
Recommendation: In July 2023, the Department’s Permanent Secretary wrote to the Chair of the previous Public Accounts Committee to say that it would not provide a full Plan that year as it needed “to work through the direction from the 46 …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2025 5.2 The DIP, to be published in Autumn 2025, and its future iterations will allow the Committee to thoroughly scrutinise the department’s …
Accepted
#26 — Publish Defence Finance and Investment Strategy, detailing funding solutions and implementation plan, including new mechanisms.
Recommendation: We recommend that the Government uses the Defence Finance and Investment Strategy to set out the data it holds and the conclusions it has drawn alongside its approach to resolving the issues with each type of funding difficulty. In the …
Gov response: The DFIS will provide conclusions on the key challenges within the defence finance and investment ecosystem and will set out how we intend to address those challenges. Implementation and ownership will be considered for each …
Under Consideration
#23 — Defence readiness suffers from in-year budget pressures, exacerbated by defence inflation.
Recommendation: The evidence is that readiness is suffering because of in-year pressures on budgets at a crucial time of preparation to meet potential conflict. It is vital that the additional funds allocated to defence by the Government do not get swallowed …
Gov response: The Government wholeheartedly agrees that every pound of taxpayers’ money spent on defence must be spent as effectively as possible, delivering value for money for the UK. Defence Reform, alongside speedier decision-making, to enable a …
Under Consideration
#5 — UK lacks readiness for contemporary war and urgent adoption of new technology
Recommendation: We are producing this Report prior to the publication of the Defence Investment Plan and as a result without the full picture of the future force posture. We timed this inquiry on the understanding that by now there would be …
Gov response: The SDR sets a path for the next decade and beyond to transform Defence and make the UK stronger both at home and abroad. The Government has endorsed the Review’s vision and accepted all 62 …
Under Consideration
#15 — BBC faces sustained financial pressures from real-terms licence fee reductions, requiring significant PSB savings.
Recommendation: The BBC faced sustained financial pressures due to real-terms reductions in licence fee income, which rose only modestly to £3.8 billion in 2024–25, compared to £3.7 billion in 2023–24. The rise was due to an increase in the cost of …
Under Consideration
#13 —
Recommendation: The Department told us that the whole point of the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) was to provide genuinely long-term demand signals so that industry, both large and small companies, can invest in preparation. It said that this was vital to …
Response Pending
#2 —
Recommendation: It is completely unacceptable that the Department failed to maintain accounting records to support more than £6 billion of assets included in its 2024–25 Annual Report and Accounts. The Comptroller and Auditor General concluded that the Department’s 2024–25 accounts did …
Response Pending
#16 —
Recommendation: For the UK, delivering SSN-AUKUS will be a lengthy and complex undertaking requiring a sustained financial commitment from Government across several electoral cycles. It is deeply concerning that there are signs that the investment pipeline that underpins that commitment has …
Response Pending
#12 —
Recommendation: The Department assured us that it did not have major concerns over its budget for sustaining a carrier strike group and that it could place the support contracts it needs.31 However, it admitted that it does not yet fully understand …
Gov response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2021 6.2 The department will address the capabilities required to support the carriers as part of the Integrated Review, reporting in the first …
Not Addressed
#10 —
Recommendation: In 2018, this Committee recommended that the Department develop more detailed estimates of the costs of supporting and operating Carrier Strike.24 This is even more important now given the pressure on the defence budget, as illustrated by funding shortfalls of …
Gov response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2021 6.2 The department will address the capabilities required to support the carriers as part of the Integrated Review, reporting in the first …
Not Addressed
#1 —
Recommendation: On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) on its progress in developing Carrier Strike and the steps it still needs to take to achieve its …
Gov response: Introduction from the Committee In 2019, the UK exported £701.2 billion of goods and services to overseas countries. The UK is currently the sixth largest exporter in the world, behind China, the United States, Germany, …
Not Addressed
#8 —
Recommendation: When asked if the financial problems with the Defence budget were ever likely to change, the Permanent Secretary pointed first to the Department not having a very good understanding of the drivers of inflation with defence projects. Second, and in …
Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 4.2 The department will write to the Committee alongside the department’s annual Equipment Plan report which will be published in Autumn 2021. …
Under Consideration
#7 —
Recommendation: In our report on the Equipment Plan 2019–2029, we expressed our concern that the Department had still not established an affordable long-term investment programme in military equipment and had missed opportunities to take the necessary difficult decisions to develop an …
Gov response: 1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 1.2 On 19 November 2020, the Prime Minister announced an increase in defence spending which will mean £188 billion will be spent …
Under Consideration
#6 —
Recommendation: The Department does not have all the necessary arrangements or qualified staff in place to provide assurance that its Equipment Plan is reliable and has been subject to rigorous quality assurance. The Department has made some improvements to its production …
Gov response: 6. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2023 6.2 Strengthening the financial capabilities within the department is a key part of the department’s Finance Functional Leadership Programme. The department …
Under Consideration
#3 —
Recommendation: The Department’s failure to break the cycle of short-term financial management is preventing it from developing essential military capabilities in ways that achieve value for money and is restricting its ability to respond to new opportunities or threats. The Department’s …
Gov response: 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 3.2 Alongside the Equipment Plan 2021, the department will write to the Committee, outlining the key principles that will guide future investment …
Under Consideration
#19 —
Recommendation: The low availability of the UK’s Type 45 destroyers and recognised issues in their propulsion systems are a major cause for concern. The destroyers cannot do their job or effectively deter adversaries if only half, and sometimes only one, of …
Gov response: . Response: Type 45 Destroyers continue to contribute to the defence of the UK and support our international partners. HMS DEFENDER and HMS DIAMOND have recently returned from operational deployment with the CSG. The MOD …
Under Consideration
#13 —
Recommendation: We are very concerned that the limited resource budget allocated under the Spending Review for the remainder of this Parliament will be insufficient to properly operate and maintain the full fleet. We were not convinced by the Department’s assertion that …
Gov response: Response: The IR invested an additional £9 billion in the Maritime domain; £6.1 billion into Navy Command and the remaining £2.9 billion in the DNO and the Complex Weapons pipeline. To maximise the value from …
Under Consideration
#3 —
Recommendation: The Plan’s affordability relies on the Department achieving a number of different types of savings, including £7 billion of ‘cost reductions’ by 2031. The Top Level Budgets (TLBs) do not yet have plans to achieve £4 billion of the ‘cost …
Gov response: 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 This recommendation has been implemented and TLBs have targets and plans to achieve these savings. 3.3 As outlined in the Equipment Plan 2021-2031 (EP21), …
Accepted
#19 —
Recommendation: We welcome the uplift to the MOD’s budget in 2020 and the four-year budget commitment. However, inflationary pressures and an increase in the scale of threat means that it is no longer enough. At the same time, serious concerns persist …
Gov response: The Government understands the rationale behind this conclusion. The defence and security of the UK will always remain the Government’s number one priority. At the last Spending Review Defence received £24 billion over 4 years …
Under Consideration
#1 —
Recommendation: It is difficult not to feel a sense of déjà vu as we see British military ambitions which are not entirely matched by resources. Open conflict has returned to Europe and it is disappointing to see that the Government is …
Gov response: The first duty of Government is the defence of the UK and our interests. The main purpose of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is to protect the people of the United Kingdom, prevent conflict, and …
Under Consideration
#21 —
Recommendation: The Department acknowledged that inflation also makes it difficult for suppliers to deliver due to rising staff and material costs.55 As a result, the Department is changing its contractual approach to take account of the inflation risk and avoid suppliers …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2023 5.2 The department continuously updates its forecast of the cost of the equipment plan and reviews its affordability through the annual financial …
Not Addressed
#20 —
Recommendation: We are also concerned about the impact of inflation on the Plan’s delivery, particularly the Department’s ability to obtain the skills required. The Department told us that it and its suppliers do not have enough data scientists, software engineers or …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2023 5.2 The department continuously updates its forecast of the cost of the equipment plan and reviews its affordability through the annual financial …
Not Addressed
#19 —
Recommendation: Economic factors such as inflation and exchange rates will cause significant risks to the plan’s affordability. The Department told us that it has £25 billion of risks that are not included in its forecast costs because it deems these unlikely …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2023 5.2 The department continuously updates its forecast of the cost of the equipment plan and reviews its affordability through the annual financial …
Not Addressed
#18 —
Recommendation: The affordability of the Plan is also under pressure from external economic factors, including rising inflation and unfavourable exchange rate movements. In March 2022 the Office of Budget Responsibility forecast that inflation would reach 8.7% by the end of 2022.47 …
Gov response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2023 5.2 The department continuously updates its forecast of the cost of the equipment plan and reviews its affordability through the annual financial …
Not Addressed
#17 —
Recommendation: We are concerned that the Department seems reliant on delaying delivery of capabilities to keep the Plan affordable.44 The Department told us that the £13.2 billion management adjustment for realism represented a small amount of over-programming, and was based on …
Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2023 4.2 Forecasting across ten-years is inherently uncertain. In a complex plan with many large programmes, forecasts change as delivery schedules and cost …
Not Addressed
#16 —
Recommendation: The Department may be over-optimistic in its assessment of project costs. The Department’s Cost Assurance and Analysis Service estimates that project costs could be between £5.2 billion and £14 billion higher than those in the Plan. The Department told us …
Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2023 4.2 Forecasting across ten-years is inherently uncertain. In a complex plan with many large programmes, forecasts change as delivery schedules and cost …
Not Addressed
#15 —
Recommendation: We also noted that the Plan is only affordable if the Department achieves intended £13.8 billion of savings, £5 billion of which it has not yet developed plans to achieve.39 The Department may be over-optimistic in expecting to achieve all …
Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2023 4.2 Forecasting across ten-years is inherently uncertain. In a complex plan with many large programmes, forecasts change as delivery schedules and cost …
Not Addressed
#14 —
Recommendation: The Department told us that its 2022–2032 Equipment Plan is affordable, as the equipment budget exceeds forecast costs by £2.6 billion (1% of budget). However, we noted that the aggregate surplus obscures financial pressures in the short-term and in some …
Gov response: 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2023 4.2 Forecasting across ten-years is inherently uncertain. In a complex plan with many large programmes, forecasts change as delivery schedules and cost …
Not Addressed
#5 —
Recommendation: The Department has ignored the worsening economic environment in its latest Equipment Plan and faces significant financial pressures on its equipment programme. The Department has not included external cost pressures, including inflation and foreign exchange movements, in its central assessment …
Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. planning process. The next update to the Committee will provide commentary on the key risks to the affordability of the plan and the approach to managing the department’s …
Accepted
#4 —
Recommendation: The Department’s assessment of the Equipment Plan’s affordability still relies on over-optimistic assumptions about the cost of programmes and the efficiencies and cost reductions it will achieve. Although the Department assesses that the Equipment Plan is affordable over ten years, …
Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. large programmes, forecasts change as delivery schedules and cost estimates mature. Improving forecasting can help to reduce this risk, but the department’s plans need to be flexible to …
Accepted
#10 — Inconsistent MoD planning approaches undermine transparency and parliamentary scrutiny of equipment affordability.
Recommendation: This flexibility means that users of the Plan, including Parliament, cannot compare Commands and other budget holders on a like-for-like basis.29 The MoD assured us that its ability to understand the Armed Forces’ capability and operational risks was unaffected by …
Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2025 2.2 All Top-Level Budget Holders (TLBs) already operate within the same standardised financial planning processes. The department’s operating model, where responsibility for …
Accepted
#9 — MoD budget holders use inconsistent approaches in forecasting equipment costs and capabilities.
Recommendation: The MoD’s aim is that the Plan provides a reliable assessment of the affordability of its equipment programme and demonstrates to Parliament how it will manage its funding to deliver equipment projects.26 The MoD’s headquarters provides the Front Line Commands …
Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2025 2.2 All Top-Level Budget Holders (TLBs) already operate within the same standardised financial planning processes. The department’s operating model, where responsibility for …
Accepted
#2 — Ensure all MoD budget holders consistently adopt the same approach to forecast costs.
Recommendation: The Plan is inconsistent because some parts of the Armed Forces include the costs of all capabilities that the government expects them to deliver, while others only include those they can afford. The MoD’s aim is that the Plan provides …
Gov response: The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. financial planning processes. The department’s operating model, where responsibility for managing the equipment plan is delegated to TLBs, acknowledges that they have different financial positions and carry a …
Accepted
#17 —
Recommendation: The Department said that it was still awarding contracts, guided by the SDR, despite the delayed publication of the DIP. However, it acknowledged that the delay was having an adverse impact on industry. The Department acknowledged that serial delays were …
Response Pending
#17 —
Recommendation: The Government must demonstrate that the industrial uplift required to deliver SSN AUKUS is being funded and delivered at pace. We recommend that an annual assessment of planned versus delivered investment in submarine industrial capacity be conducted by the Prime …
Response Pending
#23 —
Recommendation: We asked the exchequer departments whether reliefs costing double what HMRC had forecast meant that they were out of control. They asserted that they could not anticipate everything when they made their forecasts. They outlined factors that could affect costs …
Gov response: 4.1 The Government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2020 4.2 HMRC’s annual official statistics on tax reliefs include graphs of the absolute costs of the most significant reliefs and their cost …
Not Addressed
#14 —
Recommendation: We urge the Government to consider a long-term multi-year financial settlement for defence, in order to ensure that the Integrated Review provides a reliable basis for planning the UK’s future defence posture. In Search of Strategy — The 2020 Integrated …
Gov response: The Comprehensive Spending Review will provide a multiyear financial settlement for Defence to enable the delivery of the policy priorities set out in the Integrated Review. The Government position on the Comprehensive Spending Review has …
Under Consideration
#11 —
Recommendation: Support costs include the cost of maintaining, repairing and upgrading equipment. Operating costs include items like fuel, port fees and stock.27 The Department is developing its understanding of the requirements of a carrier strike group when on deployment, and believes …
Gov response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2021 6.2 The department will address the capabilities required to support the carriers as part of the Integrated Review, reporting in the first …
Not Addressed
#3 —
Recommendation: The Department still does not fully understand Carrier Strike’s support and operating requirements or costs. In 2018, we highlighted that the Department must develop detailed estimates of the costs of supporting and operating Carrier Strike. This is even more important …
Gov response: 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2021 6.2 The department will address the capabilities required to support the carriers as part of the Integrated Review, reporting in the first …
Not Addressed
#17 —
Recommendation: We are alarmed by the revelation to this inquiry that a core aspect of the plans set out in the 2015 SDSR will not be met. In its response to this Report the Ministry of Defence should provide a detailed …
Gov response: Following SDSR 15 and subsequent planning round decisions, the modernisation programme was placed under increasing pressure, resulting in challenges to fully meet SDSR ambition. The Department has learnt from this and sought to fully resource …
Under Consideration
#25 —
Recommendation: The National Audit Office has also reported that the Department’s continued focus on living within its in-year budget is affecting its ability to develop the military capabilities that are needed.72 The commands undertook yet another re-prioritisation exercise to balance the …
Gov response: 3.3 Since the Committee's report, the department published the Defence Command Paper which sets out new policy aims and the capability decisions that were underpinned by the additional £16.5 billion investment from the 2020 Spending …
Under Consideration
#24 —
Recommendation: We remain extremely concerned that the Department continues to manage a long- term spending programme on a year-by-year, cash-limited budget.69 Faced with funding shortfalls, the Department took a range of measures to balance its 2020–21 budget, including introducing commitment levels …
Gov response: 3.3 Since the Committee's report, the department published the Defence Command Paper which sets out new policy aims and the capability decisions that were underpinned by the additional £16.5 billion investment from the 2020 Spending …
Under Consideration
#22 —
Recommendation: We are concerned that the Department has no flexibility in its 2020–2030 Equipment Plan budget, which limits its ability to respond quickly to new or emerging threats.63 The National Audit Office report showed that the Department has only made provision …
Gov response: 3.3 Since the Committee's report, the department published the Defence Command Paper which sets out new policy aims and the capability decisions that were underpinned by the additional £16.5 billion investment from the 2020 Spending …
Under Consideration
#19 —
Recommendation: The Department could not provide us with a detailed explanation of how it planned to use the additional £16.5 billion of funding as ministers have yet to finalise decisions.51 Given that the 2020–2030 Equipment Plan is unaffordable, it accepted that …
Gov response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2021 2.2 Following the publication of the Integrated Review on 16 March 2021, the MOD published a summary of key spending and investment …
Under Consideration
NAO audit recommendations(33)
The Equipment Plan 2023 to 2033
MoD should assess the effect of delaying major decisions on each TLB and ensure that both decision-makers and Parliament understand the financial and capability impacts of this delay.
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2023 to 2033
MoD should ensure greater consistency in the approach of each TLB to producing their equipment plans. It should provide clear guidance on whether each TLB should include the full predicted costs of the capabilities they are being asked to provide …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
The Department has not yet fixed its long-standing problems in managing the Plan. It will struggle to do so unless its Head Office, working with the TLBs, makes a fundamental change to the way it builds, and reports on, the …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2020-2030
The Department needs to develop a comprehensive and realistic assessment of the affordability of its 10-year equipment and support programme. It should improve the consistency of judgements that underpin its budget and assessments of future costs. In doing so, it …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2020-2030
The Department needs to develop a comprehensive and realistic assessment of the affordability of its 10-year equipment and support programme. It should improve the consistency of judgements that underpin its budget and assessments of future costs. In doing so, it …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2020-2030
The Department needs to develop a comprehensive and realistic assessment of the affordability of its 10-year equipment and support programme. It should improve the consistency of judgements that underpin its budget and assessments of future costs. In doing so, it …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2020-2030
The Department needs to develop a comprehensive and realistic assessment of the affordability of its 10-year equipment and support programme. It should improve the consistency of judgements that underpin its budget and assessments of future costs. In doing so, it …
Accepted
Defence capabilities – delivering what was promised
In its guidance and training to SROs and their teams, the Department should emphasise the importance of recognising and avoiding optimism bias in reporting of progress. It should also ensure SROs have enough time to carry out their roles when …
Accepted
Defence capabilities – delivering what was promised
The Department should instil a culture where exceptions are seen as just that – exceptional. The Department should require the communication of any exceptions on the most significant capabilities to the central approving authority prior to declaration of the milestone …
Accepted
Defence capabilities – delivering what was promised
The Department should be clear about what good capability delivery will look like following implementation of its current transformation programmes, and set out when benefits will be expected to appear. Guidance, particularly around milestones, should be updated to reflect any …
Accepted
Defence capabilities – delivering what was promised
Head Office should ensure it has the capacity and capability to hold the Commands to account more effectively for capability delivery through a fully developed central portfolio office function. Management information systems should be aligned with need, provide an overall …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
The Department should draw on its detailed assessment of options for Spending Round 2019 to maintain a prioritised cross-Department view on future military capabilities. It should estimate potential development costs of new projects to better inform decisions to delay, defer …
Accepted
Defence inventory management
To address its long-standing challenges in inventory management and successfully deliver its transformation initiatives, we recommend that the MoD: draws together the best practice from its current projects to identify surplus inventory, supported by a coherent plan covering its whole …
Accepted
Defence inventory management
To address its long-standing challenges in inventory management and successfully deliver its transformation initiatives, we recommend that the MoD: develops an assessment of the skills and resources its needs across inventory management, whether current resourcing levels are sufficient to meet …
Accepted
Defence inventory management
To address its long-standing challenges in inventory management and successfully deliver its transformation initiatives, we recommend that the MoD: ensures that a management framework for raw material and consumable commodities is in operation, which controls demand and consumption, incentivises the …
Accepted
Defence inventory management
To address its long-standing challenges in inventory management and successfully deliver its transformation initiatives, we recommend that the MoD: identifies and prioritises the resources it needs within Defence Support and across MoD?s constituent organisations to ensure its transformation programmes can …
Accepted
Defence inventory management
To address its long-standing challenges in inventory management and successfully deliver its transformation initiatives, we recommend that the MoD: defines the levels of inventory needed to support its new strategic aims, and develops an understanding of what arrangements are needed …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
HM Treasury should: g) define the purpose of the Dreadnought contingency and establish new governance arrangements, including the conditions under which additional funds will be provided to the Department. This work should be undertaken with the aim of incentivising the …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
f) explore the inter-dependencies between the three plans that make up the overall defence plan (the Equipment Plan, Infrastructure Plan, and the plan for operating costs). Using this analysis, it should assess the delivery risks of the Infrastructure and operating …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
e) in order to give more assurance on the completeness of the Plan, carry out regular audits of capability gaps across TLBs and, subject to national security constraints, publish a high-level summary of the results, such as whether gaps are …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
d) in reporting on future assumed or targeted cost reductions within the Plan, make a clear distinction between those which are supported by a clear plan to achieve them, and those which represent an additional target, and provide supporting evidence;
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
c) if total forecast spending exceeds overall control totals in any year, include a section within its Equipment Plan report explaining why the accounting officer is satisfied that this outcome is compliant with Managing Public Money’s standards of regularity, propriety …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031
b) as part of the process of putting the Plan together, clearly set out the respective roles and responsibilities of TLBs and Head Office, including clarifying who is in charge of each part of the process. The objective of this …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
Head Office should strengthen the process for producing the Plan, given the amount of data needed to compile the Plan, the number of people involved across the TLBs and the need for manual input. It should establish a new financial …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
The Department should provide a fuller reconciliation of the affordability assessment in its report to compare against the previous year. This would enable readers to understand the basis of the current assessment and main movements.
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
Head Office should undertake further analysis of the main adjustments to establish how to improve their reliability; for example, the risk of double-counting or the relationship between different adjustments.
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
The Department should improve consistency of judgements by embedding a common methodology for adjustments to the budget and cost forecasts. The methodology should be capable of being tailored to individual TLBs but be based on consistent principles and an analytical, …
Accepted
Decommissioning Sellafield: managing risks from the nuclear legacy
HM Treasury should consider what information and evidence it would need from the NDA group to be able to consider longer term settlements. The NDA should explore whether longer-term budgets for Sellafield are feasible
Accepted
HS2: update following cancellation of Phase 2
HM Treasury should: consider how to apply the recommendations we made in our 2023 report on how best to manage the budget for the HS2 programme to best protect value for money. These recommendations included consideration of: resetting HS2 budgets …
Accepted
HS2: update following cancellation of Phase 2
HM Treasury should: ? as part of future spending reviews, agree revised financial controls with DfT and HS2 Ltd, including multi-year funding settlements for the programme to provide them with the longer-term certainty needed to plan activity, manage the supply …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2020-2030
The Department needs to focus on strengthening its analytical capacity. Continuing to develop staff with financial qualifications and improve its use of data would help it more effectively produce and analyse the Equipment Plan. It should identify and exploit opportunities …
Accepted
Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency Annual Report & Accounts 2018-19
The Department and HM Treasury should continue to monitor the most up to date trends and forecast data on the volatility of future VED forecasts when considering policy, particularly given the Budget 2018 announcement around the use of VED revenue …
Accepted
The Equipment Plan 2019 to 2029
The Department should now focus on filling the gaps in key financial positions across TLBs. Improving financial capabilities across the Department is fundamental to achieving the required improvements to processes and methodology for producing the Plan.
Accepted
IMB annual reports(5)
Stafford (2025)
HMP Stafford, a Category C training prison for men convicted of sexual offences, maintains a generally safe environment with positive prisoner-staff relationships. Key concerns include a long-standing legionella issue impacting health and facilities, challenges for prisoners in gaining employment post-release due to national policy and offence history, and infrastructure not meeting modern standards. The Board also noted issues with mental health waiting times and a loss of facilities for older prisoners following a relocation.
PRISON
Key concerns
Oakwood (2025)
HMP Oakwood, a Category C training prison, generally provides a safe environment with reductions in self-harm incidents and prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The prison has seen significant improvements in healthcare provision, with CQC breaches lifted, and positive developments in purposeful activity and prisoner-staff relationships. Key challenges include persistent understaffing in the Probation Service, ongoing delays in mental health transfers, and issues with property management and the availability of complaint forms for prisoners.
PRISON
Key concerns
Lincoln (2025)
HMP Lincoln, a Category B reception and resettlement prison, held 654 prisoners at the end of the reporting period, slightly below its operational capacity of 664. The report highlights improvements in safety with the use of body scanners and a professional staff approach, yet notes significant increases in self-harm incidents (455, up from 277) and ACCTs opened (446, up from 351). Key concerns include persistent issues with building maintenance, healthcare waiting times, the management of IPP prisoners, and problems with prisoner property and cleanliness.
PRISON
Key concerns
Warren Hill (2025)
HMP Warren Hill is a well-run Category C prison for men serving life or IPP sentences, consistently demonstrating a high commitment to safety and positive staff-prisoner relations. While the prison excels in healthcare provision, purposeful activity, and support for neurodiverse prisoners, key challenges include the ongoing cancellation of ROTL, uncertainty surrounding prison expansion and kitchen facilities, and the potential impact of future education budget cuts. The Board urges action on these issues to further enhance rehabilitation and resettlement outcomes for prisoners.
PRISON
Key concerns
Littlehey (2025)
HMP Littlehey continues to provide a safe and largely humane environment, with commendations for its compassionate healthcare, dedicated staff, and innovative rehabilitation initiatives like the CRED team. However, the report highlights significant concerns including critical understaffing of the IMB, persistent issues with heating and hot water, a substantial cut to the education budget, and inadequate after-hours social care. Other challenges include property complaints on transfer, unreliable healthcare lifts, and issues with offender behaviour programmes causing parole delays.
PRISON
Key concerns