Cuts leave Navy short of submarines

The Royal Navy faces a shortage of attack submarines as a result of decisions taken in the Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Whitehall spending regulator warned today.

By The Newsroom

Published 15th Nov 2011, 17:24 BST

The National Audit Office said delays to the new Astute class would leave the Navy without enough submarines for part of the next decade while adding £200m to the cost of the programme.

Ministry of Defence moves to balance its budget in the short term following the SDSR added to a £466m increase in the cost of the 15 largest equipment projects over the past year.

The forecast cost of all major projects approved since 2000 is up by £10.6 bn or 11.4 per cent while delays have risen by 30 months, an average of two months per project, bringing total delays to almost 27 years. However the NAO estimated the increase could have been £19.4bn without the cuts.

Margaret Hodge MP, the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee which oversees the NAO, said: ““Delaying projects and reducing what they deliver are not sensible ways to invest in defence capability.”