Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2020 to Question 26984, for what reason none of his Department's major projects has been categorised as green by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority; and what recent assessment he made of his Department's ability to deliver major projects (a) on time, (b) within their initial scope and (c) on budget.

A green programme is defined as 'successful delivery to time, cost and performance appears highly likely, there are no major outstanding issues at this stage that appear the threaten delivery'. All defence programmes that sit on the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) and Defence Major Projects Portfolio are large and complex and therefore have sizable risks that threaten delivery. These risks are continuously monitored along with mitigation plans, by the Senior Responsible Owner with the support of the approval authority in the centre of the Department to ensure successful delivery. Once the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) are satisfied a programme is mature enough and delivering with confidence, the IPA graduate them from the GMPP, typically before it reaches green status. DMPP programmes are subject to assurance and approvals activity to support and de-risk delivery to performance, cost and time.