Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March to Question 119957 on Defence: Investment, whether the term flat out corresponds to any specific Departmental timeline.

We will publish the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) as soon as possible. It is essential that we take the time required to ensure decisions are robust and support the transformation of the Armed Forces outlined in the Strategic Defence Review.

As he will recall as former Minister for Defence Procurement, under the last Government only two of 49 defence procurement projects were on time and on budget.