UK Ministry of Defense freezes new capital expenditure until end of March

The UK Ministry of Defence has frozen new capital spending for two months as it struggles with the impact of soaring prices on its budget, Report informs referring to The Telegraph.

The ban on spending started in early February and will last until the end of March, throwing into doubt long-planned projects that were due for approval before the next financial year.

Inflation has pushed up the prices of defence contracts since budgets were set. Last autumn’s Armed Forces pay rise in effect had to be funded from the MoD capital budget and both factors are understood to have contributed to the need for the freeze.

It comes after the Armed Forces were widely criticised for spending on diversity issues and it has now emerged that the cost of staff focused on the issue has doubled to nearly £2 million over the past five years.

The Telegraph revealed at the weekend that the Army proposed relaxing security checks for recruits from overseas to boost diversity, prompting a review by Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary.

The Telegraph can also reveal that, amid a recruitment crisis in the Royal Navy, the next generation of British frigates will be crewed by as few as 50 sailors.