82

Lack of prioritisation in defence strategies leads to widespread, unfocused Armed Forces commitments

Conclusion
Professor Justin Bronk told us that the IR23 and DCP23 had demonstrated “the broad challenges and ambitions that the UK is faced with” but had given no indication of priority.175 We made the same criticism (which the Government rejected) of the 2021 strategies.176 This lack of prioritisation has resulted in leaders of the UK Armed Forces feeling the need to show the Services “doing things all over the place all the time”, otherwise “not only will they not get additional investment to plug gaps or increase capability, but they will risk being cut”.177 Professor Malcolm Chalmers told us that a number “of the issues around personnel in relation to the Army are about the breadth of their commitments”.178 General Lord Houghton agreed, telling us that “the Armed Forces are consistently on some form of operation. Not a lot of them are left at home, in the locker”.179
Government Response

A response document is linked to this report, dated 25 April 2024. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.

Addressee Bodies
Ministry of Defence
Timeline
Recommendation age 2.6 yrs
Report published 04 Feb 2024