The hon. Gentleman is tempting me to comment on an ongoing competition. As he knows, if we were to prejudice that competition, both the UK taxpayer and potentially UK industry would be at risk of being sued by the other consortium. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan), whom I welcome to my team, was not the Minister at the time of that competition, so to hold her to account in that way is unfair.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to appropriate transparency of its finances, and we make regular reports to Parliament on our expenditure as well as being subject to regular National Audit Office studies on various aspects of our expenditure. In particular, we produce an account of the Department's actual expenditure every year in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we also publish annually a detailed report on the Equipment Plan, focusing on departmental spending on the procurement and support of military equipment. These reports set out actual expenditure at the end of the relevant financial year. We published the 2018-19 Annual Report before the summer recess and the equipment plan report is due to be published later this year.

The figures concerned are estimates and are subject to variations in expenditure that take place throughout the year as the Department undertakes its business. The definitive record of our expenditure is set out in the Annual Report and Accounts and Equipment Plan. The Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be published in summer 2020 and the Equipment Plan 2019 is due to be published later this year. The latest versions of both publications can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018

The Ministry of Defence is committed to appropriate transparency of its finances, and we make regular reports to Parliament on our expenditure as well as being subject to regular National Audit Office studies on various aspects of our expenditure. In particular, we produce an account of the Department's actual expenditure every year in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we also publish annually a detailed report on the Equipment Plan, focusing on departmental spending on the procurement and support of military equipment. These reports set out actual expenditure at the end of the relevant financial year. We published the 2018-19 Annual Report before the summer recess and the equipment plan report is due to be published later this year.

The figures concerned are estimates and are subject to variations in expenditure that take place throughout the year as the Department undertakes its business. The definitive record of our expenditure is set out in the Annual Report and Accounts and Equipment Plan. The Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be published in summer 2020 and the Equipment Plan 2019 is due to be published later this year. The latest versions of both publications can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018

The Ministry of Defence is committed to appropriate transparency of its finances, and we make regular reports to Parliament on our expenditure as well as being subject to regular National Audit Office studies on various aspects of our expenditure. In particular, we produce an account of the Department's actual expenditure every year in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we also publish annually a detailed report on the Equipment Plan, focusing on departmental spending on the procurement and support of military equipment. These reports set out actual expenditure at the end of the relevant financial year. We published the 2018-19 Annual Report before the summer recess and the equipment plan report is due to be published later this year.

The figures concerned are estimates and are subject to variations in expenditure that take place throughout the year as the Department undertakes its business. The definitive record of our expenditure is set out in the Annual Report and Accounts and Equipment Plan. The Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be published in summer 2020 and the Equipment Plan 2019 is due to be published later this year. The latest versions of both publications can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018

The Ministry of Defence is committed to appropriate transparency of its finances, and we make regular reports to Parliament on our expenditure as well as being subject to regular National Audit Office studies on various aspects of our expenditure. In particular, we produce an account of the Department's actual expenditure every year in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we also publish annually a detailed report on the Equipment Plan, focusing on departmental spending on the procurement and support of military equipment. These reports set out actual expenditure at the end of the relevant financial year. We published the 2018-19 Annual Report before the summer recess and the equipment plan report is due to be published later this year.

The figures concerned are estimates and are subject to variations in expenditure that take place throughout the year as the Department undertakes its business. The definitive record of our expenditure is set out in the Annual Report and Accounts and Equipment Plan. The Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be published in summer 2020 and the Equipment Plan 2019 is due to be published later this year. The latest versions of both publications can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018

The Ministry of Defence is committed to appropriate transparency of its finances, and we make regular reports to Parliament on our expenditure as well as being subject to regular National Audit Office studies on various aspects of our expenditure. In particular, we produce an account of the Department's actual expenditure every year in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we also publish annually a detailed report on the Equipment Plan, focusing on departmental spending on the procurement and support of military equipment. These reports set out actual expenditure at the end of the relevant financial year. We published the 2018-19 Annual Report before the summer recess and the equipment plan report is due to be published later this year.

The figures concerned are estimates and are subject to variations in expenditure that take place throughout the year as the Department undertakes its business. The definitive record of our expenditure is set out in the Annual Report and Accounts and Equipment Plan. The Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2020 will be published in summer 2020 and the Equipment Plan 2019 is due to be published later this year. The latest versions of both publications can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018

I do not actually recognise the hon. Gentleman’s interpretation of the competition. This is a challenging competition for the very reason that we want to ensure that UK industry is competitive—not just in the UK, but around the globe. We have taken a pragmatic approach to change the parameters to ensure consistency with all other competitions that have been happening. This is a challenge to industry, but we want it to be competitive. That was the whole point of the national shipbuilding strategy.