AN SNP MP has slammed Defence Secretary John Healey over the skyrocketing cost of the Ministry of Defence’s plan for equipment acquisition.
The Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO), which oversees the majority of the MoD's spending on its programme, saw its spending on the equipment plan increase 62% to £99.5 billion in 2024.
Inflation as well as overspending on the government’s nuclear weapon upgrades are largely responsible, it is understood.
Speaking at defence questions in Westminster, the SNP's Dave Doogan highlighted that the equipment plan budget cost over 10 years stood at £44bn in 2019 – less than half of the predicted cost in 2024 – and asked for an update.
The MP for Angus and Perthshire Glens asked Healey: “Can the Secretary of State reassure us the MoD haven't lost the run of themselves on this worst of all defence procurement debacles?"
He then added: “And what personal commitment can he give that he has the foggiest idea what to do about it?”
The Defence Secretary chuckled before saying: “Mr Speaker, I can give him absolutely that assurance.
“I can also tell him that this is a national enterprise of the utmost importance that maintains the underpinning security for this nation, as it has done over decades.
“And that the management of nuclear enterprise and the budget controls are in place and stronger than they've been for years.”
Later in the debate in the House of Commons, the MP for Dunfermline and Dollar – Graeme Downie – asked about HMS Swiftsure, a decommissioned nuclear submarine currently being dismantled and recycled by defence firm Babcock International as a pilot project of the submarine dismantling program.
He then asked: “Will the minister provide an update on this program which could secure hundreds of jobs in Dunfermline and Dollar by dealing with similar submarines at Rosyth over the coming decades?”
Labour minister Maria Eagle responded: “My honourable friend would be aware that, despite the fact we've had nuclear submarines since 1980, we've never yet dismantled one. So, there's a lot of work to be done.
"And what's happening with Swiftsure is very encouraging and hopefully will provide many jobs in the future.”
