The Ministry of Defence (MoD) publishes an annual Equipment Plan, where it sets out its spending plans on equipment procurement and support projects over the next decade to keep the nation secure.
The Committee’s report on the MoD’s 2022-32 Plan found that equipment is arriving into service many years late and significantly over-budget with depressing regularity. It concluded that neither taxpayers nor the Armed Forces were being served well, that the system was broken, and in need of meaningful change.
The National Audit Office’s report into the MoD’s 2023-33 Plan found that it is unaffordable. The MoD estimates that forecast costs exceed its available budget by £16.9bn. The largest cost increases were to be found in nuclear and naval programmes, where combined costs have risen by £54.6bn.
Based on the NAO report, the Committee will take evidence from senior MoD officials on subjects including:
- The Plan’s underlying data and assumptions;
- Adaptability to international volatility;
- How the MoD will manage impacts to the Plan’s affordability, including inflation.
If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on Sunday 14 January 2024.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere.