Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by what percentage the forecast 10 year programme cost of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise has increased since the Equipment plan 2023-2033: update on affordability.

As stated by my Rt hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Garston (Maria Eagle) in the answer she gave on 13 June 2025 to Question 58561 to the hon. Member for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg), the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) originally forecast an equipment plan spend of £117.8 billion over the period 2023-33 and, over the same period to 2033, the forecast for DNE equipment plan spend had increased by about £10 billion. This is equivalent to an increase of 8.7%.

This government is investing more than £63 billion over the next four years to strengthen the UK’s nuclear deterrent and to fund Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS submarines, a new warhead, and other crucial nuclear work. As the Defence Investment Plan set out, the money spent on defence by the end of the decade will be 2.7% of GDP, up from 2.3% when this government took office in 2024.