UK Inquiry Tracker

MoD Equipment Plan 2021-31

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 21 Feb 2022 Closed: 2 Sep 2022 Parliament page

The Committee will take evidence on the NAO’s report on the annual Ministry of Defence Equipment Plan: https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-equipment-plan-2021-to-2031/ The Equipment plan sets out the MoD’s intended investment in equipment and support projects over the next 10 years . Each year the NAO publishes a report, published in parallel with the … Read more

8 Recommendations

25 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 5 events

2 Sep
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty Second report from Session 2021-22

22 Jun
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from the Ministry of Defence, relating to the Public Accounts Committee Report – MoD Equipment Plan 2021-31, dated 21 June 2…

11 May
2022

Report published

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of Defence Equipment Plan 2021–31

28 Feb
2022

Oral evidence

MoD Equipment Plan 2021-30

28 Feb
2022

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

MoD Equipment Plan 2021-30

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

28 Feb 2022

View on parliament.uk

MoD Equipment Plan 2021-30

Air Marshall Richard Knighton · Ministry of Defence Charlie Pate · Ministry of Defence David Williams CB · Ministry of Defence Sir Simon Bollom · Ministry of Defence

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of Defence Equipment Plan 2021–31	HC 1164	11 May 2022	33	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

11 results

2 Recommendation Not Addressed

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

The Department appears complacent about the affordability of its Plan and still does not yet...

The Department appears complacent about the affordability of its Plan and still does not yet have robust arrangements in place to control the cost of its largest programmes. The Department believes that its Spending Review settlement and the decisions it … Read more The Department appears complacent about the affordability of its Plan and still does not yet have robust arrangements in place to control the cost of its largest programmes. The Department believes that its Spending Review settlement and the decisions it has taken mean its Equipment Plan is now affordable, and that it is striking a better balance between financial and capability risk. We are not convinced that the Plan is as stable as the Department believes, or that it will be able to avoid short-term budget-driven changes to the Plan. The Department clearly finds it difficult to control the costs of the largest programmes and we are concerned that the Department sees the Dreadnought programme ‘contingency’ held by HM Treasury as a blank cheque, freeing it from the need to control costs. This is the Department’s largest programme and it is imperative that cost control is tight. The Department would like to use similar contingency arrangements for the programme to replace the UK’s nuclear warhead. This programme and the Future Combat Air System are at a much earlier stage of development, meaning that costs could be much higher than the current forecast. This uncertainty makes robust cost control still more important. Rising inflation means the cost of delivering projects is likely to rise, particularly if they experience delays. Recommendation: The Department should write to the Committee within the next three months to detail the current cost of the Dreadnought, Replacement Warhead and FCAS programmes and set out how it intends to control the costs of these programmes in future. We recommend that there should be a clearly defined purpose for the Dreadnought contingency and any proposals for a warhead contingency, and that Government 6 Ministry of Defence Equipment Plan 2021–31 should have a robust arrangement in place, including conditions which would have to be met, before HM Treasury would consider providing any additional funds from the contingency. The Departme Show less

Government Response

The response discusses Électricité de France’s (EDF) strategies, plans and the estimated costs, but does not detail the current cost of the Dreadnought, Replacement Warhead and FCAS programmes.

HM Treasury

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1 Conclusion Not Addressed

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Defence (the Department) on the Department’s ten-year Equipment Plan (the Plan) which sets out its plans for the procurement and support … Read more

Government Response

The response acknowledges the report but doesn't address the substance of the conclusion.

HM Treasury

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7 Conclusion Not Addressed

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

Outside the Plan, we asked if the proposed cuts to the regular Army to 73,000...

Outside the Plan, we asked if the proposed cuts to the regular Army to 73,000 from 82,000 meant the UK would not have enough soldiers.10 The Department stressed to us that the UK has “responded positively” to every request from … Read more

Government Response

The response discusses the Programme, skill development, and risk management, but does not address the question of whether the UK has enough soldiers given proposed cuts to the regular Army.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Not Addressed

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

The Department also told us it intends to buy more F-35 aircraft.16 It had previously...

The Department also told us it intends to buy more F-35 aircraft.16 It had previously told us that the 48 F-35 aircraft it is currently purchasing would not be enough to sustain Carrier Strike operations throughout the life of its … Read more

Government Response

The response restates the conclusion about the Department's intention to buy more F-35 aircraft.

HM Treasury

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10 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

An example of new funding for more established programmes is the new radar for the...

An example of new funding for more established programmes is the new radar for the Typhoon. Although it had been in development for several years before the decision to buy it was announced in 2015, the Department did not include … Read more

HM Treasury

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11 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

More widely, the Committee asked whether the Plan was now based on a large number...

More widely, the Committee asked whether the Plan was now based on a large number of past assumptions, observing that it does not include funding for capabilities 7 Q2 8 Q8 9 Q86 10 Qq 7–8 11 Q88 12 Q64 … Read more

HM Treasury

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12 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

However, the NAO report found that in the Plan the Department has only set aside...

However, the NAO report found that in the Plan the Department has only set aside £1.05 billion from 2026–27 to 2030–31 to exploit research to develop usable military capabilities.24 This expenditure is only 0.4% of the Plan’s total budget, although … Read more

HM Treasury

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13 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

The Department told us that, thanks to the funding increase in the Spending Review and...

The Department told us that, thanks to the funding increase in the Spending Review and the Integrated Review process, it thinks the Plan is now affordable, although there are financial and capability risks in its delivery.27 The Department also told … Read more

HM Treasury

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14 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

This is the first time the Department has claimed the Plan is affordable for four...

This is the first time the Department has claimed the Plan is affordable for four years. And given the NAO has repeatedly reported on the Department’s focus on short term affordability at the expense of long-term value for money, we … Read more

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

We asked why the Department is forecasting to spend more than its capital budget in...

We asked why the Department is forecasting to spend more than its capital budget in seven of the next 10 years. The Department responded that the differences in those years were quite small and it judged them to be manageable.32 … Read more

HM Treasury

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16 Conclusion

Fifty-Second Report - Ministry of …

We considered the Department’s controls over the costs of the Plan’s largest programmes, in particular...

We considered the Department’s controls over the costs of the Plan’s largest programmes, in particular the nuclear projects such as Dreadnought submarines and the replacement Warhead programme. As the NAO notes, nuclear projects amount to about £60 billion in the … Read more

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 8 classified

Accepted 4

Acknowledged 18

Not Addressed 4

Total 8 recs + 25 conclusions

Correspondence 1 letter

22 Jun 2022 Correspondence from the Ministry of Defence, relating to the Public Accounts Committee Report – MoD Equipment Plan 2021-31, dated 21 June 2022

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