The Ministry of Defence is forecasting a funding gap against current plans by the end of the financial year, despite remaining within its spending limits to date, the Chief of the Defence Staff has told MPs.
Giving evidence to the Defence Select Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said the department is not currently overspent, but is projecting expenditure beyond its allocated budget if no adjustments are made. He stressed that departments are not permitted to overspend and described the situation as a routine feature of defence financial management.
“Right now we are not overspent,” Knighton said. “Departments are not allowed to overspend. What we’re saying is the forecast by the end of the year would be that, if we carried on and made no changes, we would be spending more than the budget we’ve got.”
Knighton told MPs that the total defence budget for the year stands at around £62 billion, with just under £40 billion allocated to the Military Strategic Headquarters, which funds the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and Strategic Command. He said that funding envelope has not been reduced during the year, aside from limited reallocations into the defence nuclear enterprise. “There has been no point in the year where that budget has been reduced,” he said, adding that in-year rebalancing of pressures is a normal process across government.
Pressed by Lincoln Jopp MP on whether defence currently has an underspend or overspend across its budgets, Knighton drew a clear distinction between current spending and end-of-year projections. He said discussions are ongoing between officials, ministers and the Treasury to manage the forecast position. “We are forecasting to spend more than the budget we’ve got,” he told the committee. “That’s a perfectly normal process to go through supplementary estimates, and that’s the process we’re going through.”
Jopp responded that this amounted to defence lacking sufficient funding to meet its ambitions, a characterisation Knighton did not dispute. “We do not have enough money to do everything that is currently planned,” he said, noting that similar situations have occurred in previous years.
£62 billion in defence spending but only £40 billion goes to the military. I’m guessing intelligence, Ukraine and pensions take up much of the rest but even still that’s quite a figure.
Approximate figures for 23/24 which probably did not change much in 24/25 were 10% pensions, 30% military and civilian personnel, 50% equipment, and 10% across R&D, operations and peacekeeping. I doubt that even with Ukraine there’s been much change on those percentages..
Just a reminder, despite historically having a much larger budget than Japan, they have been able to field a larger high quality navy and air force compared to ours. It’s pathetic
Japan doesn’t have British Wasteofspace running their defence industry though!
Or a defence nuclear enterprise that is consuming ever more of the budget- “ reallocation into the DNE”
Two very different force structures.
Granted but I also have a funny feeling that they don’t blow as much money as us when it comes to delayed and cost overrun weapons programs e.g. Ajax and Queen elizabeth carriers
Note also the per capita GDP of Japan compared to here, and its implications for personnel costs.
What do spend it all on? we buy bugger all. Every thing keeps getting added to the defence budget so in reality its srinking in real trems but look great on paper. A CDS who is more up front that most before him ever were. He will be replaced soon with a yes man who wear rose tinned glasses.
MOD is shambles that never gets any thing right we get the worst value for money and most of our kit is either very old, broken or not up to spec. year after year.
Yet not one sinle person has ever been sacked, strang that and a sign of leadership weakness.
See above
In regard to what?
I take it he agrees with you.
How long before he strangly retires etc so some spinless yes man can come in and paint a rosey picture, why up the defence budget the if the Governments just keep adding what it covers to it its going no where.
Half the size Army was 20/30 years ago, smallest nave in 100 years smallest RAF since the cold war yet we can afford bugger all, why? then what we do buy never works and is a money pit.