Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons expenditure on equipment support is falling when major new equipment is being brought into service.

The Government remains committed to real terms growth of the Equipment Plan by 1% each year and to meeting the NATO guideline to spend 20% of its defence expenditure on major equipment, and associated research and development. We plan to spend £179 billion over the 10 years to 2027 to deliver the cutting edge ships, aircraft, and armoured vehicles our military need now and in the future. This includes increasing spending on Equipment Support from £8.3 billion in 2017-18 to almost £10 billion in 2026-27.