Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out in detail where he expects to be able to fulfill the commitment of £10.7bn included in the spending projections on page 73 of the Defence Investment Plan.

Defence is committed to efficiency and ensuring every pound spent on Defence is used in the best way for our Armed Forces and the taxpayer. Section 4 of the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), published 30 June 2026, outlines our extensive Reform and Efficiency Plan. The total efficiency commitment of £10.7 billion over the period FY2026-27 to FY2029-30 identified in the Defence Investment Plan is broken down by key delivery area at Table 18. This includes service redesign, reductions to the Civil Service workforce, reduced expenditure on External Assistance, leveraging the use of digital and AI, driving efficiency through our estate and infrastructure and a reformed approach to acquisition. The detail of which is set out in Section 4 of the DIP. Table 21 provides a breakdown of the expected delivery of this efficiency target across each year from 2026-27 to 2029-30, split by Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL - with a total target of £7 billion) and Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL - with a total target of £3.7 billion), and the level of maturity of these plans. Delivery is backed by an additional £500 million investment from the Exchequer as part of a ring-fenced Transformation Fund to accelerate productivity enhancing investments.