Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the financial viability of his Department’s equipment programme.

On 4 December 2023, The Permanent Secretary provided an update on the affordability of the Equipment Plan for 2023-33 to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. This can be found on gov.uk at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65a16ef469fbd3001325c067/PUS_to_PAC_Equipment_Plan_23-33_Corrected.pdf

We are working hard to deliver the equipment our service people need to keep the UK safe. We have therefore increased the budget for the Equipment Plan to £288.6 billion over the next decade, noting the Government's aspiration to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP when economic and fiscal conditions allow.