Ministry of Defence : major projects report 2004, third report of session 2005-06, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

Following on from an NAO report (HCP 1159-1, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102930481) published in November 2004, the Committee report considers the recommendations of the Major Projects Report 2004.

This report examined cost, time and technical performance data for 30 defence projects in the year ended March 2004, which included 20 post-Main Gate projects (where the main investment decision to proceed had been taken by the Ministry of Defence, and ten projects still in the assessment stage.

The Committee's report focuses on three main issues: the impact of the continuing large cost overruns and delays; the challenge of handling large complex projects; and whether the latest reform programme will succeed where previous ones have failed.

Findings include that the GBP 4.8 billion of cost overruns recorded in the Major Projects Reports 2003 and 2004 will put further pressure on an already tightly-stretched defence budget; and the principles underpinning Smart Acquisition are sound, but have not convincingly improved defence procurement because they have not been consistently applied. The conclusions and recommendations set out build upon those given in previous Committee reports, particularly that in 2003, and these should now be progressed as a consistent and coherent programme.