MoD top team questioned by PAC on future defence funding and support for Ukraine
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will scrutinise the future of the defence budget, procurement and military support for Ukraine at 3.30pm on Monday 28 April.
Meeting details
The Government revealed in 2024 that an Equipment Plan for that year, where it sets out its spending plans on equipment procurement and support projects over the next decade to keep the nation secure, would not be published. Information about it would not be provided to the National Audit Office, with the government saying a Plan would not provide an accurate reflection of the government’s spending plans.
The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament. The PAC believes the lack of a Plan represents an unacceptable loss of transparency, with the Chair of the PAC and the Defence Committee jointly writing to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) expressing these points on 28 January 2025. On 12 March, the MoD Permanent Secretary wrote to the Committee to explain why the MoD has not produced an Equipment Plan since 2023 and to raise options for future reporting to Parliament.
The evidence session will see the Committee discuss the future of the Equipment Plan with the MoD’s most senior officials, with likely topics including:
- Structural problems in the defence budget (identified in the Committee’s report on the 2023 Equipment Plan);
- Personnel issues which impact recruitment and retention of people with the right skills;
- Lessons learned from the provision of military support to Ukraine (informed by the National Audit Office’s own investigation on the topic); and
- Future plans for Parliamentary scrutiny of defence budgeting.