Appendix: Government Response
1. The Government welcomes the Committee's report
on the Ministry of Defence Main Estimates 2006-07 published on
29 June 2006. The Estimate sought Parliamentary approval for the
MOD's core budget for 2006-07. This did not include the cost of
operations, which the Department will seek later in the year,
in the Winter Supplementary Estimates. The Government's response
to the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Committee's
report is set out below.
We recommend that the Ministry of Defence reconsider
whether provision for commenced operations might be included in
the Main Estimates in future. The current arrangements mean that
the provision for conflict prevention in the MoD's Main Estimate
greatly underestimates the total expected cost of the MoD's conflict
prevention activities. (Paragraph 13)
2. Requests for resources for Conflict Prevention
have normally been made in the Supplementary Estimates, because
costs are difficult to forecast in fast moving operational circumstances.
The Department will seek provision for Conflict Prevention for
commenced operations in our 2006/7 Winter Supplementary Estimate.
While we appreciate the value in managing peace-keeping
activities centrally, we cannot see why this should preclude separation
of the anticipated costs of operations in the Balkans by department
in the Main Estimates. We recommend that the Government reconsider
this. (Paragraph 12)
3. The Government will reconsider this in the preparation
of Main Estimates 2007/8.
We recommend that the MoD consider further, in
consultation with this Committee and with the House of Commons
Scrutiny Unit, how the information presented in its estimates
memoranda could be made more accessible, and expressed in plainer
language. (Paragraph 16)
4. The Department will consult with the House of
Commons Scrutiny Unit and the Committee on how the information
presented in the Estimates memoranda can be expressed in plainer
language.
We believe it is essential to our future security
that the MoD and our Armed Forces are properly funded and we will
be monitoring the progress of the Spending Review with very close
interest. We will also be continuing to monitor the MoD's Estimates
process. The Government should not take the House's acquiescence
to its spending plans for granted. (Paragraph 18)
5. The Department agrees that it is essential that
the MOD and Armed Forces are properly funded and notes and welcomes
the Committee's interest. The Government does not take the House's
acquiescence to its spending plans for
granted.
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