Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the UK's military capabilities.

This Government inherited a set of Armed Forces that were described by a previous defence secretary as having been “hollowed out and underfunded”. He made these comments from his time on the Government benches in the last Parliament.

The Department routinely conducts both Planned Force Testing and Capability Auditing to maintain an accurate picture of the actual and projected state of the force. The details of those audits are not made public as their disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

The Strategic Defence Review considered all aspects of Defence, including the capabilities required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century. The plan for implementing the Review’s recommendations for the Integrated Force will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.