Question
To ask His Majesty's Government why The Equipment Plan 2023–2033, published on 4 December, includes full predicted costs for the Royal Navy and RAF but not British Army capabilities required to deliver (1) the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, published in March, and (2) the Defence Command Paper: Defence's response to a more contested and volatile world, published in July.
Answer
The Equipment Plan 2023-33 is based on data from the close of financial year 2022-23 and does not reflect the policy intent set out in the Defence Command Paper Refresh published this July. The department's operating model, where responsibility for managing the equipment plan is delegated to Top Level Budgets, allows them to have different financial positions and to be at different stages of addressing their financial pressures.