MoD must end contract failures
The Ministry of Defence is yet to prove it has got the required grip on procurement to end the "cycle of failure" which has seen delays and large scale overspending on equipment, a group of MPs has warned.
The House of Commons public accounts committee said delays in procurement and overspending by the MoD had to be addressed.
It recommended the MoD provided its forecast for implementing last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) by April.
The committee was responding to a National Audit Office report which found in October that the "black hole" in MoD procurement had increased by £3.3bn in Labour's final year in office.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: "In the wake of the Defence Review the MoD still has to spell out whether and how it has got its defence procurement budget under control. The MoD must demonstrate the same discipline in its defence procurement that our forces demonstrate in the field."
Defence secretary Liam Fox responded to the report by outlining plans to tackle the financial mismanagement that saw a £26bn hole in the department's budget.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Fox said "fantasy projects" which make their way into the defence programme have to stop, and that regular assessment of the department's biggest projects will take place.
Later today, the defence secretary will deliver a speech to the Civitas think-tank in Londonon procurement.
Prime minister David Cameron is due to give a speech to the Kuwaiti Parliament, as he continues his trip to the Middle East region..
Education secretary Michael Gove and children's minister Tim Loughton are due to launch updated adoption guidance for local authorities.
And international development secretary Andrew Mitchell meets with EU counterparts in Brussels.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.