Delayed Defence Investment Plan, military recruitment and service accommodation to be examined by PAC
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will examine the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Annual Reports and Accounts for 2024-25
Meeting details
In 2024-25, the MoD's total expenditure was £60.2bn, which it managed through three separate plans. A recent report from the National Audit Office (NAO) identified issues in each of the three. The MoD has signalled its intention to unify the three plans under one cohesive Defence Investment Plan. However, despite Government assurances that the plan would be published in Autumn 2025, it has not yet done so.
The PAC will likely use this session to examine the impact this delay is having on both the military and the defence industry. Questions may also focus on longstanding military recruitment and retention issues, and the risks this poses to the UK’s overall defence capabilities.
In 2024, the MoD announced a £6bn deal with Annington Homes that would see them require more than 36,000 military homes that had been sold by a previous government in 1996 and subsequently leased back. The Committee may question witnesses on what this could mean for living standards for service personnel and their families.
The NAO’s recent audit also identified two issues which cast doubt on the reliability of the information provided by the MoD, leading to the Comptroller and Auditor General qualifying his opinion on the accounts. The PAC is likely to examine why the MoD was unable to provide sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the valuation, existence and classification of £6.13 billion in long-term assets, and why it incurred non-Budget expenditure of £2.56 billion which had not been approved by Parliament.