Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 report published
11 March 2015
MoD Accounting is improving but SDSR brings future challenges according to the Committee's report published Wednesday 11 March 2015.
- Report: Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14
- Report: Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 (PDF 347 KB)
- Inquiry: Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14
- Defence Committee
The Defence Select Committee points out in its report that, after many years of qualified accounts, the latest MoD accounts are qualified again. It acknowledges that the Permanent Under-Secretary and his team have worked to resolve the problems that have led to these delays and qualifications. The Committee do, however, give warning that the forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review and the management reform of the Service Commands will throw up new questions to be addressed in the administration of the MoD’s accounts.
Chair's comments
Chairman of the Defence Committee, Rory Stewart MP, says,
"The MoD does now look like it is finally getting a handle on its inventory. And it is also making welcome steps in the transparency of its reporting on its own performance, adopting a number of recommendations made by this Committee. Decisions about what our military can afford to do - and with what kit - have to be taken with the clearest cost information. But Defence is likely to get more not less complicated, and it is essential that the MoD focuses relentlessly on further improvements to its accounting."
The Committee are calling for the MoD to detail what planning it is doing to ensure that it manages the write-offs of assets and the shortening the effective operational lives of equipment, that will arise from the forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review.