This week, the House of Commons Defence Committee published its report into the UK’s defence procurement system. I welcome it and the opportunities for us to learn and improve.

While I do not agree that defence procurement is broken, there is much that we can do and are already doing, to get better at delivering the very best we can for our armed forces.

I was pleased to read the Committee’s continued praise of our agility and speed when working to support Ukraine. It is also important to note that our overall performance is good and we have significantly improved over recent years.

While we deliver some of the most complex programmes in UK Government, we are equipping the armed forces with the capabilities they need. But we still want it to be better – and I’m proud to be part of the team driving change.

The report makes several recommendations, the vast majority of which are aimed at improving the wider defence acquisition process. Together with colleagues in the MOD, we will now be looking at these carefully before providing a formal response.

Work is already underway across Defence to reform with the most robust review of the end-to-end acquisition system for a decade. We will continue to learn, to challenge and to change – so we can ensure the security and prosperity of our nation and its allies.