Ministry of Defence : equipment plan 2012-2022 and major projects report 2012, first report of session 2013-14, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

The Ministry of Defence has now reported on the affordability of its ten-year forward plan to purchase and support military equipment (the Equipment Plan) totalling some GBP159 billion, as well as its progress on delivering its largest projects in 2012. The Department has made a good start but there are concerns about over-optimistic assumptions, the completeness and robustness of support cost estimates, and risks to capability.

The affordability of the Plan is based on an agreement between the Department and HM Treasury that it will receive a one per cent annual increase in its equipment budget over the period from 2015-16 to 2020-21.

If this is now not achieved in the current fiscal circumstances then the current plan may well be unaffordable.

The addition of a contingency provision of GBP4.8 billion is a positive step, however this may not be sufficient to absorb cost growth.

In addition, the Department lacks a robust understanding of the support costs, and the associated risks, including the size of the budget that may be required to recover equipment from Afghanistan.

The Department also faces a particular challenge in delivering projects to agreed timescales. Ultimately, the Department bears the risk of these delays in terms of military capability and we need greater transparency on these risks and how they are mitigated. This includes the Department being clear on the impact on capability if the GBP8 billion that is currently unallocated in the budget cannot be used for purchasing new equipment because it is needed to absorb cost growth