Comments on the Ministry of Defence’s ambitions
In a letter to the House of Representatives of 14 October 2014, the Court of Audit makes a number of comments on the Ministry of Defence’s budget for 2015. The letter is one in a series the Court of Audit will send to the House in the coming months commenting on the ministries’ budgets.
The letter considers how the budget for next year incorporates earlier decisions taken by the government in the policy paper, In the Interests of the Netherlands. As in the previous year, the Ministry of Defence has produced (largely manually) a statement on the actual investment, operational and personnel costs incurred for the 27 weapons systems it operates. New measures are also included in the statement. The Ministry has already dropped a number of the choices set out in the Interests of the Netherlands policy paper. For several years, the necessary investments have been higher than the ceiling agreed between the Ministry and the Ministry of Finance.
The Court of Audit urges the Ministry to prepare a statement that includes measures to achieve other ambitions and that explains the deployability of the armed forces.
The letter also considers the difference between planned investments in the armed forces and actual expenditure and the lack of a strategic plan to manage the Ministry’s real estate.
The letter is only in Dutch available.