UK Inquiry Tracker

The Equipment Plan 2023–2033

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 4 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page

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 … Read more

5 Recommendations

22 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

5 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 9 events

28 May
2024

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Nineteenth report from Session 2023-24

11 Mar
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Hearing follow up questions, …

8 Mar
2024

Report published

Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033

7 Mar
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023 – 2033: hearing follow up questions…

22 Jan
2024

Oral evidence

Defence Equipment Plan 2023-33

22 Jan
2024

Correspondence

Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Update on affordability, date…

22 Jan
2024

Correspondence

Revised correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Update on affordabili…

22 Jan
2024

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

Defence Equipment Plan 2023-33

11 Dec
2023

Correspondence

Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023 – 2033: Update on Affordability, da…

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

22 Jan 2024

View on parliament.uk

Defence Equipment Plan 2023-33

Andy Start · Ministry of Defence David Williams CB · Ministry of Defence Lieutenant General Sir Robert Magowan KCB CBE · Ministry of Defence Tom Wipperman · Ministry of Defence

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033	HC 451	8 Mar 2024	27	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 results

2 Conclusion Acknowledged

Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment …

Ensure all MoD budget holders consistently adopt the same approach to forecast costs.

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 … Read more 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 a reliable assessment of the affordability of its equipment programme and demonstrates to Parliament how it will manage its funding to deliver equipment projects. The MoD headquarters provides the Front Line Commands and other budget holders with guidance on preparing their cost forecasts. However, it allows the budget holders to take different approaches to whether they include in their forecast costs all the capabilities they need to meet government’s expectations, or just those capabilities that they can afford. This flexibility has created an inconsistency of approach, which means that users of the Plan cannot compare Commands and other budget holders on a like-for-like basis. For example, the Royal Navy has included in the Plan predicted costs for all the capabilities the MoD expects it to deliver, and it has reported a deficit of £15.3 billion. In contrast, the Army has reported a deficit of £1.2 billion in the Plan, because it only includes those projects it can afford. However, its deficit would increase by around £12 billion if it had included all the capabilities the government has requested. The MoD conceded that a Plan compiled on a consistent basis would clearly be easier to interpret. 1 The date of the general election will be determined by the government, but must happen no later than 28 January 2025 according to the Electoral Commission. 6 MoD Equipment Plan 2023–2033 Recommendation 2: In future Plans, the MoD should ensure that all budget holders adopt the same approach to including forecast costs. This will help the Plan to achieve its aim of providing a reliable assessment of the affordability of its equipment programme, and improve transparency so allowing the Plan’s users, including Parliament, to compare contribu Show less

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation and states that, for transparency and ease of comparison, the department will seek to standardise the data produced and presented for the Equipment Plan starting from the Annual Budgeting Cycle planning round process.

HM Treasury

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25 Conclusion Acknowledged

Nineteenth Report - MoD Equipment …

International developments highlight importance of strategic partnerships for interoperable defence equipment.

Recent international developments, including the war in Ukraine, have underlined the importance of strategic international partnerships for the UK.79 The UK has been working with its allies, including Ukraine, to develop interoperable equipment, pool essential munitions and encourage industry to … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the importance of strategic international partnerships and describes its ongoing efforts to capitalize on the UK's convening power, review allied support, and engage industry, with a target implementation date of Spring 2025.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 5 classified

Accepted 17

Acknowledged 2

Rejected 7

Total 5 recs + 22 conclusions

Correspondence 5 letters

11 Mar 2024 Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Hearing follow up questions, dated 6 March 2024

Parliament page

7 Mar 2024 Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023 – 2033: hearing follow up questions, dated 6 March 2024

Parliament page

22 Jan 2024 Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Update on affordability, dated 12 January 2024

Parliament page

22 Jan 2024 Revised correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023-2033: Update on affordability, dated 4 December 2023

Parliament page

11 Dec 2023 Correspondence from David Williams CB, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, re Equipment Plan 2023 – 2033: Update on Affordability, dated 4 December 2023 (A revised version of this letter was published on 22 January 2024. Please see the Equipment Plan 2023-2033 inquiry page.)

Parliament page