MoD rebuked for massive overspend
The Ministry of Defence has been sharply rebuked by the Government’s spending watchdog for a massive £1.7 billion overspend last year, despite adopting a new efficiency drive.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said super projects such as the Type-45 destroyer, Eurofighter, Nimrod and Future Joint Combat aircraft remained behind schedule and could be hit with more delays down the line.
It said the 20 biggest procurement projects, originally estimated at £44 billion, would now cost at least £50 billion, 14 per cent higher than originally forecasted.
However, the overspend is down £1.4 billion pounds year-on-year.
“There must be greater certainty as to when equipment will be ready for service and there must be greater control of costs,” said John Bourn, head of the NAO.
Despite the MoD’s six-year old “smart acquisition policy”, the NAO found “little evidence” if cost cutting and saved efficiencies at the MoD.
Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said the MoD has failed to break “its wasteful mould”.
“This is a terrible way to plan for the defence of our country,” he said in a statement.
“Our troops will have to wait even longer before they can use the promised kit.”
Lord Bach, Minister for Defence Procurement, said he was “disappointed” with the cost and time delays but noted the Defence Procurement Agency had “undertaken a huge amount of work to expose any underlying problems on projects”.
Gerald Howarth, the Conservative Party’s defence spokesman, said the NAO report was “damning”.
His Liberal Democrat counterpart, Paul Keetch, said the report was indicative of “incompetence” at the MoD.
“An overstretched defence budget is being tested even further. As we place increasing demands on our forces, we owe it to them to ensure that they have all the equipment they need, on time and on budget,” he added.
