, Shadow
Defence Procurement Minister, responding to the MOD
equipment plan, said:
“This plan fails to ensure our Armed Forces get the equipment
they need or value for money for British taxpayers. And there’s
still an Ajax-shaped hole at the heart of the British Army’s
future.
“The Government must get a grip on the MoD’s deeper failings.
£13billion of taxpayer money has been wasted since 2010 -
£4billion while the present Defence Secretary has been in post.
Yet this plan does nothing to change that. As a result, the MoD
will continue to fail the taxpayer and our Forces alike.
“The next Labour government will commission the NAO to conduct an
across-the-board audit of MoD waste and make it the first
department subject to our new Office for Value of Money’s tough
regime on spending decisions.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- NAO report on the equipment plan:
-
-
https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Equipment-Plan-2021-2031.pdf
- “TLBs assume that in future years some equipment will not
be introduced as quickly as planned and they adjust spending
forecasts accordingly.” (p9)
- “It is too early to say if the planned new investments in
equipment will mean that the Plan includes all the equipment
that the armed forces need.” (p9)
- “The Army’s target strength will be cut from 82,000 to
73,000 by March 2025. Other TLBs must make savings by 2030
equivalent to reducing their military workforce by 6,350,
while the cost of the Department’s civilian workforce needs
to be 10% lower by March 2025. The Department’s financial
plans also assume further workforce cuts of £2.5 billion by
2030, but it has not yet announced how it intends to deliver
these or required the TLBs to reflect them in their plans”
(p10)
- “The processes underlying the Plan’s production
incentivise short-term affordability, which builds up
financial pressures over the longer term.” (p11)
- “The Department has recognised that participants in the
main budgeting process have serious concerns about the way it
works including its focus on the current year to the
detriment of later years” (p11)
- “Over the past 10 years, the Department’s various
attempts to improve the wider programme and project
management of its equipment have had limited success, and the
enduring weaknesses continue to adversely affect risks to
Equipment Plan affordability. (p12)
- “The Department’s decisions to cut budgets in the short
term have adversely affected equipment capability and value
for money.” (p16)
- Labour’s Dossier of Waste in the MOD:
-
