Ministry of Defence: Public Expenditure
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 70 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what steps he plans to take to reduce civil service costs by at least 10% by 2030.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones
As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, we are developing plans for how to use the latest automation, augmentation, and AI technology to reduce costs in administrative areas such as HR, Finance, and Commercial.
We are conducting a comprehensive review of the Defence workforce to ensure it is appropriately structured to deliver on our strategic priorities, including evaluating the balance between Regulars, Reserves, Civil Servants and Contractors. We will also use this as an opportunity for deep prioritisation, taking difficult but necessary choices to address affordability challenges.
We will set out our plans in the Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan, which will be published in the autumn alongside the Defence Investment Plan.
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